The Demigods Read The Lost Hero
by Aishani108
Summary: Percy,Annabeth,Jason,Leo,Piper,Frank,Hazel,Reyna,Octavian,Rachel.Read The Lost Hero before it happens.Travis,Conner,Katie appear in Chapter 2.Please Please don't comment Meanly im trying and everything to make this story good.
1. The Greeks & Romans Meet Indroductions

**This Is My First Fanfiction so please dont comment meanley I do not own any of the characters and I do not own the book so please enjoy**

* * *

**At Camp Half-Blood of the Present:**

It seemed pretty normal for a place that had currently recovered from the biggest war ever. That's good. Rachel was in her room/cave thingy, blasting her Coldplay as loud as it would go.

"PARA-PARA-PARADISE! PARA-PARA-PARADISE!OOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Clarisse was currently kicking the stuffing out of some poor defenseless dummy in the arena.

Nico, who was conveniently visiting because this is now my world, was sulking in a corner.

Thalia, who was also conveniently visiting, was in the forest, practicing archery on the woodland creatures.

Grover was with Juniper. NOT LIKE THAT SIKKO!

Annabeth and Percy were, um, spending _quality time _together…Don't ask.

**At Camp Jupiter of the Present:**

Jason and Reyna were currently talking to each other. Did I say talking? Yeah, I meant flirting.

Octavian was off doing his creepy slaughterhouse gig.

Hazel was…being forever alone. Mostly walking around and thinking. Also trying not to have a blackout.

**Other Places of the Present:**

Piper was in her giant room, Blasting Panic! At the Disco. She had gotten into _another _fight with her dad.

Leo was hiding out in a random alley. He'd just run away from an orphanage.

Frank was sobbing. It was natural after you just found out your mother had died in combat.

Suddenly, every single person I mentioned above was consumed by a white light. Duh.

After they were consumed with white light They were dropped at the Middle of Camp-Half Blood Everybody was wondering what was happening.

Then a Book and a letter came and Hit Percy in the head,Everybody started cracking up "Hey thats not funny" Percy said

Annabeth Starting Reading The Letter Out Load

_Dear Demigods,_

_Please Roman and Greek Demigods dont kill each other,I have brought you all here to read a series The Heros Of indroduce your selfs and then read the book dont worry your sleeping arangements have been made_

_Sincerly ,_

_Apollo god of phropecy_

"Annabeth,Daughter of Athena"

"Percy,Son of Poseidon"

"Nico,Son of Hades"

"Thalia,Daughter Of Zeuz"

"Rachel,Oracle Of Delphie"

The Romans were shocked but they didnt say anything.

Reyna, daughter of Bellona."

"Octavian, descendant of Apollo."

"Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto"

"Jason Grace,son of Jupiter"

After Jason had finished indroducing himself

Thalia turned to him.

"J-Jason?" She whispered hesitantly.

He looked at her with wide eyes.

"Thalia?"

Thalia pulled him into a bear hug, laughing and blinking back tears.

"I thought you were dead!"

They continued to hug, and Reyna's eyes narrowed.

"Guys, this is my big sister, Thalia." Reyna relaxed, and all of the Greeks looked to Thalia with questioning eyes. Thalia explained what had happened all those years ago between Jason, Hera and herself.

Piper stepped forward "Sorry to burst the Party Bubble,but we pointing at Leo,and Frank dont know what is going on"

Annabeth took her and the others to the corner to explain.

While they were explaing Jason had thought "Wow that Piper girl is preety" no he thought your here to read a book not get a girlfriend and I still have a crush on Reyna.

Octavian was also thinking, he didnt want to attack but he thought that Rachel girl was kinda of cute, and they did the same he was thinking Rachel had come over to him and sad down. He didnt know what to do because nobody was sitting by him so he just stayed quiet.

Then The 3 confused people came back and indroduced themselfs.

"I'm Piper McLean, undetermined."

"Leo Valdez, undetermined."

"Frank Zhang, undetermined."

So lets start reading

Annabeth voulntered to go first

**"The Lost Hero"**

**"Jason I"**


	2. Jason I

Chapter One

**Jason I**

Before they could start reading they were intrupted by a White flash after that flash was gone 3 people fell out Travis Stroll,Conner Stroll,Katie Garner.

"What are we doing here?" Conner asked.

" Yeah, we were about to play the most awsomest prank on the dementer cabin" Travis said.

"Excuse me Travis but what did you just say" Katie asked

"Nothing, Nothing at all"

Everybody all knew that Travis had a crush on Katie that's why he always pranked her cabin and mostly her,Katie would yell mostly at Travis because she likes them back. But they would always denied their Greek New they liked each other but them.

Even the Romans and Piper could tell that there was some Love connection between them.

"Ok,we are hear to read a book so please shut your big mouths so we can read"

**Jason I**

Why is it my pov Jason thought so if he had any embarrassing thoughts these and everybody could read them.

**EVEN BEFORE HE GOT ELECTROCUTED, Jason was having a rotten day.**

Reyna looked at Jason with worry in her eyes. Jason, noticing her stare at him, said:

"I'm sure I'll be fine, Reyna."

Everybody was worried for him even if they didn't know him

**He woke in the backseat of a school bus, not sure where he was, holding hands with a girl he didn't know. **

"That doesn't sound so bad to me," Connor said. "Well, unless the girl is ugly."

"You are such a jerk," Annabeth glared at him, and he just shrugged.

Reyna growled. Everyone but Jason, who just happened to sit right next to her, backed away a bit.

**That wasn't necessarily the rotten part. The girl was cute, but he couldn't figure out who she was or what he was doing there. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to think.**

**A few dozen kids sprawled on the seats in front of him, listening to iPods, talking, or sleeping. They all looked around his age…fifteen? Sixteen? Ok, that was scary. He didn't even know his own age.**

"You're 16." Hazel said, matter-o-factly.

"I haven't lost my memory yet, Hazel." Jason smiled at her.

Hazel blushed in embarrassment.

'_She's pretty…' _Frank thought.

'_Wait, what am I doing? We haven't even said one word to each other!'_

**The bus rumbled along a bumpy road. Out the windows, desert rolled by under a bright blue sky. Jason was pretty sure he didn't live in the desert. He tried to think back … the last thing he remembered…**

"Something tells me you dont remember much," Annabeth muttered.

**The girl squeezed his hand. "Jason, you okay?"**

**She wore faded jeans, hiking boots, and a fleece snowboarding jacket. Her chocolate brown hair was cut choppy and uneven, with thin strands braided down the sides. She wore no makeup like she was trying not to draw attention to herself, but it didn't work.**

**She was seriously pretty. Her eyes seemed to change color like a kaleidoscope—brown, blue, and green.**

"Ohh I see your checking her out" Connner asked

Piper blushed scarlet "Thats me your describing, but why would you be describing me"

" I dont know" jason answed

**Jason let go of her hand. "Um, I don't—"**

**In the front of the bus, a teacher shouted, "All right, cupcakes, listen up!"**

**The guy was obviously a coach. His baseball cap was pulled low over his hair, so you could just see his beady eyes. He had a wispy goatee and a sour face, like he'd eaten something moldy. His buff arms and chest pushed against a bright orange polo shirt.**

**His nylon workout pants and Nikes were spotless white. A whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. He would've looked pretty scary if he hadn't been five feet zero. When he stood up in the aisle, one of the students called, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"**

"Well that settles it, he is a satyr," Annabeth said.

"I was kind of hoping it would be him," Connor chuckled. "This should be interesting."

**"I heard that!" The coach scanned the bus for the offender. Then his eyes fixed on Jason, and his scowl deepened.**

" And here i always thought that i was a likeable person"Jason said. Everybody started crackcing up it also released the tension that was in the air

**A jolt went down Jason's spine. He was sure the coach knew he didn't belong there. He was going to call Jason out, demand to know what he was doing on the bus—and Jason wouldn't have a clue what to say.**

**But Coach Hedge looked away and cleared his throat. "We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way."**

**He picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a homer**

**Jason looked at the girl next to him. "Can he talk to us that way?"**

"Checking her out, aren't you."Travis said, his eyebrows raised suggestively.

Piper and Jason blushed. Again.

"You know Piper; I barely know you and I already think that the natural color of your skin is red." Leo la

**She shrugged. "Always does. This is the Wilderness School. 'Where kids are the animals.'"**

through this whole thing Reyna pulled Jason aside and said " I Know you really like this Piper girl and i shouldnt be the one keeping you between her, i also always thought that me and you were just sister and brother relationship nothing more" Jason just nodded and gave Reyna a hug. You could see Jealousy in Piper eyes but she let it go she knew that she Jason would have a girlfriend. Reyna had only said that stuff to Jason because she had started getting in intreast in Leo.

**She shrugged. "Always does. This is the Wilderness School. 'Where the kids are animals' "**

**She said it like it was a joke they'd shared before.**

"**This is some kind of mistake" Jason said. "I'm not supposed to be here."**

**The boy in front of them turned and laughed. "Yeah right Jason. We've all been framed! I didn't run away 6 times! Piper didn't steal a BMW!"**

"Stole a BMW... im starting to like you Piper," Connor smiled.

"So Piper do you have a boyfriend"Conner asked

Piper blushed and nodded no

Jason was watching this whole thing and wanted to go over there and just beat the crap out of Conner for asking that

Thalia who say this whole thing spoke up " Conner leave Piper alone, its obvious tha she likes Jason and Jason likes her back"

Conner seemed very disspointed but Jason and Piper were just blushing.

**Leo gave him a crocodile grin. "Sure. I'm not your best friend. I'm his evil clone."**

**"Leo Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Problem back there?"**

**Leo winked at Jason. "Watch this." He turned to the front. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone, please?"**

**Coach Hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared: "The cow says moo!"**

"Awesome," the Stoll brothers laughed.

"Did you Leo do that?" Nico was laughing too.

"Maybe you could be our brother" Travis and Conner asked

**The kids howled, and the coach slammed down the megaphone. "Valdez!"**

**Piper stifled a laugh. "My god, Leo. How did you do that?"**

**Leo slipped a tiny Phillips head screwdriver from his sleeve. "I'm a special boy."**

"Hm... I have a feeling I know who's your father or mother."Annabeth said

"Who's?" Percy and Leo asked but Annabeth shook her head im not telling.

" Guys it so obvious hes a Hephestus kid who else carries a skrew driver"Travis said

"Wow im impressed i never thought you would know that"Kaite said her voice dripped in sarcasam

" well thank you " travis replied but not catching the sarcasam in her voice

**"Guys, seriously," Jason pleaded. "What am I doing here? Where are we going?"**

**Piper knit her eyebrows. "Jason, are you joking?"**

**"No! I have no idea—"**

**"Aw, yeah, he's joking," Leo said. "He's trying to get me back for that shaving cream on the Jell-O thing, aren't you?"**

This caused all the boys too snicker.

"I really can't wait until you come here Leo ," Connor said.

"Neither can I," Nico said. "Maybe I can get him to pull something on you..."

"Never work," the Stolls shook their heads.

Leo just sat there looking Proud.

**Jason stared at him blankly.**

**"No, I think he's serious." Piper tried to take his hand again, but he pulled it away.**

"Man you really need a lesson on when a girl wants you, lucky for you i can teach you" Travis said

"And how would you know when a girl wants you" Kaite asked

" Oh i know, like you want me' Travis replied with a wink

" Yeah In your dream" Katie responded

" You are right you are in my dreams"He had a dreamey look

Piper and Jason just sat down and started blushing because everybody kept staring at them to see if they were a good couple it made them really uncomfortable.

**"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't—I can't—"**

"That's got to be hard on you Piper," Annabeth said, thinking about what she would do if Percy suddenly forget about her.

Piper just sat there blushing

" You know piper i dont know you yet and i already think that your skin town is bright RED" Leo ansered

**"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "The back row has just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"**

**The rest of the kids cheered.**

**"There's a shocker," Leo muttered.**

**But Piper kept her eyes on Jason, like she couldn't decide whether to be hurt or worried.**

**"Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"**

"Thank You Piper for having some sence to know that something wrong is going on"

**Jason shrugged helplessly. "It's worse than that. I don't know who I am."**

**The bus dropped them in front of a big red stucco complex like a museum, just sitting in the middle of nowhere. Maybe that's what it was: the National Museum of Nowhere, Jason thought. A cold wind blew across the desert. Jason hadn't paid much attention to what he was wearing, but it wasn't nearly warm enough: jeans and sneakers, a purple T-shirt, and a thin black windbreaker.**

**"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said, in a helpful tone that made Jason think this was not going to be helpful. **

" You could try helping" Thalia asked

" I probably was he just took it the wrong way"Leo replied

**"We go to the 'Wilderness School'"—Leo made air quotes with his fingers. "Which means we're 'bad kids.' Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison—sorry, 'boarding school'—in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! **

**And for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?"**

**"No." Jason glanced apprehensively at the other kids: maybe twenty guys, half that many girls. None of them looked like hardened criminals, but he wondered what they'd all done to get sentenced to a school for delinquents, and he wondered why he belonged with them.**

**Leo rolled his eyes. "You're really gonna play this out, huh? Okay, so the three of us started here together this semester. We're totally tight. You do everything I say and give me your dessert and do my chores—"**

Several people snickered.

**"Leo!" Piper snapped.**

**"Fine. Ignore that last part. But we are friends. Well, Piper's a little more than your friend, the last few weeks—"**

Piper and Jason were slowley turning Scarlet

**"Leo, stop it!" Piper's face turned red. Jason could feel his face burning too. He thought he'd remember if he'd been going out with a girl like Piper.**

"Whats that suppose to mean am i that ugly" Piper asked

" No its just your really preety i should of rembered"

" Oh" was Piper only replie

**"He's got amnesia or something," Piper said. "We've got to tell somebody."**

"Finally, someone being sensible," Thalia muttered.

**Leo scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Jason by whacking him upside the head."**

"Um... he might have a point about that," Thalia was force to admit as several people chuckled. "Then again, he's a satyr... he would probably be able to help Jason."

**The coach was at the front of the group, barking orders and blowing his whistle to keep the kids in line; but every so often he'd glance back at Jason and scowl.**

**"Leo, Jason needs help," Piper insisted. "He's got a concussion or—"**

**"Yo, Piper." One of the other guys dropped back to join them as the group was heading into the museum. The new guy wedged himself between Jason and Piper and knocked Leo down. **

"Jerk," Percy frowned, he always hated bullies.

" Uggg I already hate him" Jason said

" i know what you mean I hate bullies"Percy said

" Or you could just hate him because he got between you and Piper" travis added

**"Don't talk to these bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?"**

"Bottom-feeders... But Jason and Leo seem cool!" Travis huffed.

" Thank You I guess" Jason and Leo replied

**The new guy had dark hair cut Superman style, a deep tan, and teeth so white they should've come with a warning label: do not stare directly at teeth. permanent blindness may occur. **

"I don't like the sound of this guy," Annabeth said.

"What, do you have something against perfect teeth?" Nico chuckled.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, and started reading again.

**He wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey, **

"Argh... you're right, he's must be evil!" Connor said dramatically before laughing.

**Western jeans and boots, and he smiled like he was God's gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere. Jason hated him instantly.**

"Don't blame you," almost everyone said.

**"Go away, Dylan," Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."**

**"Ah, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day!" Dylan hooked his arm through hers and dragged her through the museum entrance. Piper shot one last look over her shoulder like, 911.**

"The poor, poor girl," Travis said gravely.

All the girls felt soory for Piper

**Leo got up and brushed himself off. "I hate that guy." He offered Jason his arm, like they should go skipping inside together. "'I'm Dylan. I'm so cool, I want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! You want to date me instead? You're so lucky!'"**

Everyone laughed at this.

**"Leo," Jason said, "you're weird."**

"I'd say awesome," Connor corrected.

**"Yeah, you tell me that a lot." Leo grinned. "But if you don't remember me, that means I can reuse all my old jokes. Come on!"**

The Stolls brothers and Nico all laughed at that.

**Jason figured that if this was his best friend, his life must be pretty messed up; but he followed Leo into the museum.**

**They walked through the building, stopping here and there for Coach Hedge to lecture them with his megaphone, which alternately made him sound like a Sith Lord or blared out random comments like "The pig says oink."**

"You'd think he would stop using it," Percy said, but he was laughing all the same.

**Leo kept pulling out nuts, bolts, and pipe cleaners from the pockets of his army jacket and putting them together, like he had to keep his hands busy at all times.**

**Jason was too distracted to pay much attention to the exhibits, but they were about the Grand Canyon and the Hualapai tribe, which owned the museum.**

**Some girls kept looking over at Piper and Dylan and snickering. Jason figured these girls were the popular clique**

"Got that right" everybody in the room said

**They wore matching jeans and pink tops and enough makeup for a Halloween party.'**

"Hmph," Thalia said annoyed about this description.

**One of them said, "Hey, Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?"**

**The other girls laughed. Even Piper's so-called partner Dylan suppressed a smile.**

**Piper's snowboarding jacket sleeves hid her hands, but Jason got the feeling she was clenching her fists.**

" Its ok Piper" Leo said and hugged her she didnt even push him off

Jason was surging with jealousy that should be him that is hugging her not Leo

My dad's Cherokee," she said. "Not Hualapai. 'Course, you'd need a few brain cells to know the difference, Isabel."

**Isabel widened her eyes in mock surprise, so that she looked like an owl with a makeup addiction.**

"Argh!" Annabeth growled at that description (seeing as owls were the symbol of her mother), causing everyone else to laugh.

"You Go Girl" Conner replied Everybody elese was still lauging

Oh, sorry! Was your mom in this tribe? Oh, that's right. You never knew your mom."

Almost everyone frowned at that having never known one or the other of their parents for a while.

**Piper charged her, but before a fight could start, Coach Hedge barked, "Enough back there! Set a good example or I'll break out my baseball bat!"**

**The group shuffled on to the next exhibit, but the girls kept calling out little comments to Piper.**

**"Good to be back on the rez?" one asked in a sweet voice.**

**"Dad's probably too drunk to work," another said with fake sympathy. "That's why she turned klepto."**

**Piper ignored them, but Jason was ready to punch them himself. He might not remember Piper, or even who he was, but he knew he hated mean kids.**

" Thats really sweet of you Jason but you know i can fight my own battles just for future refrence" piper said

"Ohh " was Jason replie

**Leo caught his arm. "Be cool. Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. Besides, if those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd be all bowing down to her and screaming, 'We're not worthy!'"**

Annabeth frowned, wondering who her father could be. Obviously he was a Cherokee...

**"Why? What about her dad?"**

**Leo laughed in disbelief. "You're not kidding? You really don't remember that your girlfriend's dad—"**

**"Look, I wish I did, but I don't even remember her , much less her dad."**

**Leo whistled. "Whatever. We have to talk when we get back to the dorm."**

**They reached the far end of the exhibit hall, where some big glass doors led out to a terrace.**

**"All right, cupcakes," Coach Hedge announced. "You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork."**

**The coach opened the doors, and they all stepped outside. The Grand Canyon spread before them, live and in person. Extending over the edge was a horseshoe-shaped walkway made of glass, so you could see right through it.**

Thalia shivered at that.

"What would you have done if you were on this trip," Travis asked her innocently and found his hair sticking up on it's ends.

**"Man," Leo said. "That's pretty wicked."**

**Jason had to agree. Despite his amnesia and his feeling that he didn't belong there, he couldn't help being impressed.**

**The canyon was bigger and wider than you could appreciate from a picture. **

**They were up so high that birds circled below their feet. Five hundred feet down, **

"No need to go into details," Thalia said under her breath.

**a river snaked along the canyon floor. Banks of storm clouds had moved overhead while they'd been inside, casting shadows like angry faces across the cliffs. As far as Jason could see in any direction, red and gray ravines cut through the desert like some crazy god had taken a knife to it.**

Everyone looked at Annabeth.

"It's never been documented," Annabeth sighed. "But it's possible."

**Jason got a piercing pain behind his eyes. Crazy gods ... Where had he come up with that idea? **

" so you must rember some basci information then" annabeth asked.

" I dont know this is the future"

**He felt like he'd gotten close to something important—something he should know about. He also got the unmistakable feeling he was in danger.**

**"You all right?" Leo asked. "You're not going to throw up over the side, are you? 'Cause I should've brought my camera."**

" Yeah you should of why didnt you"Conner and Travis asked

" I dont know im not future Leo am I"Leo replied

**Jason grabbed the railing. He was shivering and sweaty, but it had nothing to do with heights. **

"Lucky you," Thalia grumbled, again so softly that no one else could hear her.

**He blinked, and the pain behind his eyes subsided.**

**"I'm fine," he managed. "Just a headache."**

**Thunder rumbled overhead. A cold wind almost knocked him sideways.**

**"This can't be safe." Leo squinted at the clouds. "Storm's right over us, but it's clear all the way around. Weird, huh?"**

**Jason looked up and saw Leo was right. A dark circle of clouds had parked itself over the skywalk, but the rest of the sky in every direction was perfectly clear. Jason had a bad feeling about that.**

**"All right, cupcakes!" Coach Hedge yelled. He frowned at the storm like it bothered him too. "We may have to cut this short, so get to work! Remember, complete sentences!"**

**The storm rumbled, and Jason's head began to hurt again. Not knowing why he did it, he reached into his jeans pocket and brought out a coin—a circle of gold the size of a half-dollar, but thicker and more uneven. Stamped on one side was a picture of a battleax.**

**On the other was some guy's face wreathed in laurels. The inscription said something like ivlivs.**

**"Dang, is that gold?" Leo asked. "You been holding out on me!"**

**Jason put the coin away, wondering how he'd come to have it, and why he had the feeling he was going to need it soon.**

**"It's nothing," he said. "Just a coin."**

**Leo shrugged. Maybe his mind had to keep moving as much as his hands. **

"That's probable," Connor chuckled.

**"Come on," he said. "Dare you to spit over the edge."**

"Do it!" the Stolls cheered.

Katie just hit both the strolls head "Idiot" she muttered

**They didn't try very hard on the worksheet. For one thing, Jason was too distracted by the storm and his own mixed-up feelings. For another thing, he didn't have any idea how to "name three sedimentary strata you observe" or "describe two examples of erosion."**

"Argh... that's not even difficult," Annabeth grumbled.

**Leo was no help. He was too busy building a helicopter out of pipe cleaners.**

**"Check it out." He launched the copter. Jason figured it would plummet, but the pipecleaner blades actually spun. The little copter made it halfway across the canyon before it lost momentum and spiraled into the void.**

" Yep definitaly a Hepestus kid"

**"How'd you do that?" Jason asked.**

**Leo shrugged. "Would've been cooler if I had some rubber bands."**

**"Seriously," Jason said, "are we friends?"**

**"Last I checked."**

**"You sure? What was the first day we met? What did we talk about?"**

**"It was …" Leo frowned. "I don't recall exactly. I'm ADHD, man. You can't expect me to remember details."**

Everyone chuckled at that, knowing to an extend how that felt.

**"But I don't remember you at all . I don't remember anyone here. What if—"**

**"You're right and everyone else is wrong?" Leo asked. "You think you just appeared here this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?"**

" See i am smart" whispered into Piper ear and she started laughing

Everybody could see jealousy in Jason and Ryena eyes so the people who were sitting by them scooted away alot

**A little voice in Jason's head said, That's exactly what I think.**

"It looks like you might be talking into his head Connor," Nico chuckled. "Poor guy."

**But it sounded crazy. Everybody here took him for granted. Everyone acted like he was a normal part of the class—except for Coach Hedge.**

**"Take the worksheet." Jason handed Leo the paper. "I'll be right back."**

**Before Leo could protest, Jason headed across the skywalk.**

**Their school group had the place to themselves. Maybe it was too early in the day for tourists, or maybe the weird weather had scared them off. The Wilderness School kids had spread out in pairs across the skywalk. Most were joking around or talking. Some of the guys were dropping pennies over the side. About fifty feet away, Piper was trying to fill out her worksheet, but her stupid partner Dylan was hitting on her, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving her that blinding white smile. **

"Just hit the creep!" Thalia hissed and the other girls nodded their heads.

**She kept pushing him away, and when she saw Jason she gave him a look like, Throttle this guy for me.**

"Gladly"Jason responded

" thank you" piper responded and she was very blushed

**Jason motioned for her to hang on. He walked up to Coach Hedge, who was leaning on his baseball bat, studying the storm clouds.**

**"Did you do this?" the coach asked him.**

**Jason took a step back. "Do what?" It sounded like the coach had just asked if he'd made the thunderstorm.**

**Coach Hedge glared at him, his beady little eyes glinting under the brim of his cap.**

**"Don't play games with me, kid. What are you doing here, and why are you messing up my job?"**

**"You mean...you don't know me?" Jason said. "I'm not one of your students?"**

**Hedge snorted. "Never seen you before today."**

"Why is he being so honest with him?" Percy frowned.

"Probably because he drop in out of nowhere," Percy said. "That kind of makes it easier to talk about things."

"True," Grover agreed.

**Jason was so relieved he almost wanted to cry. At least he wasn't going insane. He was in the wrong place. "Look, sir, I don't know how I got here. I just woke up on the school bus. All I know is I'm not supposed to be here."**

**"Got that right." Hedge's gruff voice dropped to a murmur, like he was sharing a secret.**

**"You got a powerful way with the Mist, kid, if you can make all these people think they know you; but you can't fool me. I've been smelling monster for days now. I knew we had an infiltrator, but you don't smell like a monster. You smell like a half-blood. So—who are you, and where'd you come from?"**

**Most of what the coach said didn't make sense, but Jason decided to answer honestly.**

**"I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories. You've got to help me."**

**Coach Hedge studied his face like was trying to read Jason's thoughts.**

" He probably is" Percy responded

Great," Hedge muttered. "You're being truthful."

**"Of course I am! And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods? Are those code words or something?"**

**Hedge narrowed his eyes. Part of Jason wondered if the guy was just nuts. But the other part knew better.**

**"Look, kid," Hedge said, "I don't know who you are. I just know what you are, and it means trouble. Now I got to protect three of you rather than two. Are you the special package? Is that it?"**

"Special package?" Annabeth said. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "It's a little more annoying reading this book when I don't know what's going to happen," he added and she nodded her head.

**"What are you talking about?"**

**Hedge looked at the storm. The clouds were getting thicker and darker, hovering right over the skywalk.**

**"This morning," Hedge said, "I got a message from camp. They said an extraction team is on the way. They're coming to pick up a special package, but they wouldn't give me details. I thought to myself, Fine. The two I'm watching are pretty powerful, older than most. I know they're being stalked. I can smell a monster in the group. I figure that's why the camp is suddenly frantic to pick them up. But then you pop up out of nowhere. So, are you the special package?"**

**The pain behind Jason's eyes got worse than ever. Half-bloods. Camp. Monsters. He still didn't know what Hedge was talking about, but the words gave him a massive brain freeze—like his mind was trying to access information that should've been there but wasn't.**

**He stumbled, and Coach Hedge caught him. For a short guy, the coach had hands like steel. "Whoa, there, cupcake. You say you got no memories, huh? Fine. I'll just have to watch you, too, until the team gets here. We'll let the director figure things out."**

**"What director?" Jason said. "What camp?"**

**"Just sit tight. Reinforcements should be here soon. Hopefully nothing happens before—"**

**Lightning crackled overhead. The wind picked up with a vengeance. Worksheets flew into the Grand Canyon, and the entire bridge shuddered. Kids screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.**

"Um... it looks like something is going to happen before they get extracted," Connor stated the obvious.

**"I had to say something," Hedge grumbled. He bellowed into his megaphone: "Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!"**

**"I thought you said this thing was stable!" Jason shouted over the wind.**

**"Under normal circumstances," Hedge agreed, "which these aren't. Come on!"**

"That was the end of the chapter," Annabeth said, handing the book to Nico.


	3. Jason II

**Sorry I hate authors note i just wanted to let you know im really really sorry for not updating ,and thanks for all the nice comments so im gonna make this short because i hate authors notes. I'm only like 12 years old and im starting 7th grade so please don't hate about all the grammar ill learn it in 7th grade and i promise ill spell check so please enjoy**

* * *

Chapter Two

**Jason II**

Before they could start reading they all switched positions, Jason sat next to Piper and Leo and Reyna sat next to Leo, She wanted to get to know the sitting arrangment was Jason,Piper,Leo,Reyna,Annabeth,Percy,Nico,Conner,Travis,Katie,Thalia,Rachel,Octavian,Hazel,Frank.

"**Jason II," **Nico said.

"Hm... these titles just aren't doing anything for me," Connor said. "Yours were a lot better."

"Thanks," Percy rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

**THE STORM CHURNED INTO A MINIATURE HURRICANE. Funnel clouds snaked toward the skywalks like the tendrils of a monster jellyfish.**

" Ohh that's got to be bad but ive faced worse"Travis replied.

" Oh Yeah maybe Travis but this is real life" Katie explained like talking to a 3-year-old.

**Kids screamed and ran for the building. The wind snatched away their notebooks, jackets, hats, and backpacks. Jason skidded across the slick floor.**in your dreams

**Leo lost his balance and almost toppled over the railing, but Jason grabbed his jacket and pulled him back.**

" Thank you man or I wouldn't be here today I owe you" Leo thanked.

"Ummm Leo this book is in the future and we kinda of in the present and past" Piper responded.

"Ohh" Leo flushed from embarrassment"

Jason started getting jealous Piper should be the one making him flushed he knew what was a really stupid reason to be jealus but he didnt know what to do. Reyna was also jealous she should be the 1 making Leo flushed not both of them took each others hand. Jason to Piper, and Reyna to Leo. Both Leo and Piper were turning cherries but they didnt knew that Reyna was out of his league so he didnt even try flirting with her and he knew Jason had something going on with her, Boy he thought wrong.

**"Thanks, man!" Leo yelled.**

**"Go, go, go!" said Coach Hedge.**

**Piper and Dylan were holding the doors open, herding the other kids inside. Piper's snowboarding jacket was flapping wildly, her dark hair all in her face. Jason thought she must've been freezing, but she looked calm and confident—telling the others it would be okay, encouraging them to keep moving.**

"I like her," Annabeth started, anyone that was cool under pressure was okay by her.

**Jason, Leo, and Coach Hedge ran toward them, but it was like running through quicksand. The wind seemed to fight them, pushing them back.**

**Dylan and Piper pushed one more kid inside, then lost their grip on the doors. They slammed shut, closing off the skywalk.**

**Piper tugged at the handles. Inside, the kids pounded on the glass, but the doors seemed to be stuck.**

"That's not going to work," a few people said knowledgeable.

**"Dylan, help!" Piper shouted.**

"I don't think that's what he has in mind," other people said, now frowning, they all had too much experience with monster to not know what was coming next.

**Dylan just stood there with an idiotic grin, his Cowboys jersey rippling in the wind, like he was suddenly enjoying the storm.**

**"Sorry, Piper," he said. "I'm done helping."**

"It's time to destroy you... Mu Ha Ha Ha!" Connor shouted.

"Don't," Thalia said. "This isn't something to laugh at."

"I laughed at Percy's adventures all the time," Connor shrugged.

"Well, he's right here..." Thalia mumbled

"Hey, I take offence to that you know" Percy said.

**He flicked his wrist, and Piper flew backward, slamming into the doors and sliding to the skywalk deck.**

"No, Piper"everybody just looked at Piper was just blushing.

**"Piper!" Jason tried to charge forward, but the wind was against him, and Coach Hedge pushed him back.**

**"Coach," Jason said, "let me go!"**

**"Jason, Leo, stay behind me," the coach ordered. "This is my fight. I should've known that was our monster."**

**"What?" Leo demanded. A rogue worksheet slapped him in the face, but he swatted it away. "What monster?"**

**The coach's cap blew off, and sticking up above his curly hair were two bumps—like the knots cartoon characters get when they're bonked on the head. **

"Ohhh, if Grover were here he might just smack you"Percy said.

" No, he wouldnt stop trying to scare him" Annabeth said, After slapping Percy on the head.

**Coach Hedge lifted his baseball bat—but it wasn't a regular bat anymore. Somehow it had changed into a crudely shaped tree-branch club, with twigs and leaves still attached.**

**Dylan gave him that psycho happy smile. "Oh, come on, Coach . Let the boy attack me! After all, you're getting too old for this. Isn't that why they retired you to this stupid school? I've been on your team the entire season, and you didn't even 're losing your nose, grandpa."**

**The coach made an angry sound like an animal bleating. "That's it, cupcake. You're going down."**

"I might believe him... you know, if he didn't say cupcake so much," Travis smirked.

**"You think you can protect three half-bloods at once, old man?" Dylan laughed. "Good luck."**

"You know the thing about half-bloods, especially ones this old, they might be able to protect themselves!" Percy said, though his tone suggested he was trying to convince himself more than anything else.

**Dylan pointed at Leo, and a funnel cloud materialized around him. Leo flew off the skywalk like he'd been tossed. Somehow he managed to twist in midair, and slammed sideways into the canyon wall. He skidded, clawing furiously for any handhold. Finally he grabbed a thin ledge about fifty feet below the skywalk and hung there by his fingertips.**

**"Help!" he yelled up at them. "Rope, please? Bungee cord? Something?"**

"Where are you going to get that"Nico asked.

" I Dont know i just need help"Leo responded.

Nico nodded his head and continued reading.

**Coach Hedge cursed and tossed Jason his club. "I don't know who you are, kid, but I hope you're good. Keep that thing busy"—he stabbed a thumb at Dylan—"while I get Leo."**

"Why does did he choice Jason?" Rachel frowned.

"He's obviously strong with the Mist," Connor said smirking. "He must have other powers too!"

"I probably dont, i dont even know how to manuplate the mist"Jason said.

**"Get him how?" Jason demanded. "You going to fly?"**

**"Not fly. Climb." Hedge kicked off his shoes, and Jason almost had a coronary. The coach didn't have any feet. He had hooves—goat's hooves. **

"I know how you feel man," Percy laughed.

"We all know, you do," Annabeth smirked, thinking about Percy's reaction to Grover.

**Which meant those things on his head, Jason realized, weren't bumps. They were horns.**

**"You're a faun," Jason said.**

"Faun?" everyone said.

"That's hilarious!" Connor laughed.

"Actually that's what we call it in Roman a satyr is a faun" Reyna replied.

"Ohhh"Conner said.

**"Satyr!" Hedge snapped. "Fauns are Roman. But we'll talk about that later."**

**Hedge leaped over the railing. He sailed toward the canyon wall and hit hooves first. He bounded down the cliff with impossible agility, finding footholds no bigger than postage stamps, dodging whirlwinds that tried to attack him as he picked his way toward Leo.**

**"Isn't that cute!" Dylan turned toward Jason. "Now it's your turn, boy."**

**Jason threw the club. It seemed useless with the winds so strong, but the club flew right at Dylan, even curving when he tried to dodge, and smacked him on the head so hard he fell to his knees.**

"Nice!" several people said.

**Piper wasn't as dazed as she appeared. Her fingers closed around the club when it rolled next to her, but before she could use it, Dylan rose. Blood— golden blood—trickled from his forehead.**

**"Nice try, boy." He glared at Jason. "But you'll have to do better."**

**The skywalk shuddered. Hairline fractures appeared in the glass. **

"Oh crap!" Thalia exclaimed, looking pale again.

**Inside the museum, kids stopped banging on the doors. They backed away, watching in terror.**

**Dylan's body dissolved into smoke, as if his molecules were coming unglued. He had the same face, the same brilliant white smile, but his whole form was suddenly composed of swirling black vapor, his eyes like electrical sparks in a living storm cloud.**

"Oh, anemoi thuellai," Annabeth said looking worried.

"Is that bad?" Percy asked and Annabeth nodded. "Great."

**He sprouted black smoky wings and rose above the skywalk. If angels could be evil, Jason decided, they would look exactly like this.**

**"You're a ventus ," Jason said, **

"No he's not, he's a anemoi thuellai, duh!" Travis said.

"Actually he's right again," Annabeth said.

"So that means you were wrong!" Connor exclaimed.

"No!" Annabeth glared at him. "Ventus is the same as the anemoi thullai... it's just Roman."

"yes how do you know so much" asked Reyna.

"Im a daughter of Athena here i know" annabeth said.

**though he had no idea how he knew that word. "A storm spirit."**

**Dylan's laugh sounded like a tornado tearing off a roof. "I'm glad I waited, demigod. Leo and Piper I've known about for weeks. Could've killed them at any time. But my mistress said a third was coming—someone special. She'll reward me greatly for your death!"**

**Two more funnel clouds touched down on either side of Dylan and turned into venti —ghostly young men with smoky wings and eyes that flickered with lightning.**

**Piper stayed down, pretending to be dazed, her hand still gripping the club. Her face was pale, but she gave Jason a determined look, and he understood the message:**

_**Keep their attention. I'll brain them from behind.**_

"Nice plan," Annabeth said.

"I like her style," Connor agreed with a smile.

**Cute, smart, and violent. Jason wished he remembered having her as a girlfriend.**

"I don't blame you," all the guys except for Percy said.

"I can see why he would say that," Percy said, but he was looking at Annabeth with a telling smile. "Smart girls are really hot."

"Ugggg do we have to keep reading my thoughts"Jason asked.

"I think its cute"Piper replied and took his hands.

Jason was just blushing turning red like a cherry and then told "Nico Keep reading"

**He clenched his fists and got ready to charge, but he never got a chance.**

**Dylan raised his hand, arcs of electricity running between his fingers, and blasted Jason in the chest.**

"NO!" several people said, but none as loud as Thalia.

**Bang! Jason found himself flat on his back. His mouth tasted like burning aluminum foil.**

**He lifted his head and saw that his clothes were smoking. **

"He's okay?" Thalia muttered but before anyone could try to answer her Nico continued reading.

**The lightning bolt had gone straight though his body and blasted off his left shoe. His toes were black with soot.**

**The storm spirits were laughing. The winds raged. Piper was screaming defiantly, but it all sounded tinny and far away.**

**Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw Coach Hedge climbing the cliff with Leo on his back. Piper was on her feet, desperately swinging the club to fend off the two extra storm spirits, but they were just toying with her. The club went right through their bodies like they weren't there. **

**And Dylan, a dark and winged tornado with eyes, loomed over Jason.**

**"Stop," Jason croaked. He rose unsteadily to his feet, and he wasn't sure who was more surprised: him, or the storm spirits.**

"The storm spirits," the Stoll brothers said at the same time.

**"How are you alive?" Dylan's form flickered. "That was enough lightning to kill twenty men!"**

**"My turn," Jason said.**

**He reached in his pocket and pulled out the gold coin. He let his instincts take over, flipping the coin in the air like he'd done it a thousand times. **

"You have Jason" Hazel replied.

she was so quiet nobody had noticed her.

"Umm Hazel this is the future and i have anmesia"Jason replied.

"Ohh sorry"Hazel replied.

"Its ok"

**He caught it in his palm, and suddenly he was holding a sword—a wickedly sharp double-edged weapon. The ridged grip fit his fingers perfectly, and the whole thing was gold—hilt, handle, and blade.**

"Cool!" Travis said.

"And everyone knows that a coin is so much better than a pen," Conner added, smirking at Percy, who just rolled his eyes.

**Dylan snarled and backed up. He looked at his two comrades and yelled, "Well? Kill him!"**

**The other storm spirits didn't look happy with that order, but they flew at Jason, their fingers crackling with electricity.**

**Jason swung at the first spirit. His blade passed through it, and the creature's smoky form disintegrated. The second spirit let loose a bolt of lightning, but Jason's blade absorbed the charge. Jason stepped in—one quick thrust, and the second storm spirit dissolved into gold powder.**

"Something tells me that they weren't supposed to be that easy to kill," Nico said looking at Annabeth.

"No... they really weren't." She said looking impressed.

**Dylan wailed in outrage. He looked down as if expecting his comrades to re-form, but their gold dust remains dispersed in the wind. "Impossible! Who are you, half-blood?"**

**Piper was so stunned she dropped her club. "Jason, how … ?"**

"Im A son of Jupiter"Jason said

"I know i listned to the intro Jason" Piper replied. "Rember this is the future"

**Then Coach Hedge leaped back onto the skywalk and dumped Leo like a sack of flour.**

**"Spirits, fear me!" Hedge bellowed, flexing his short arms. Then he looked around and realized there was only Dylan.**

**"Curse it, boy!" he snapped at Jason. "Didn't you leave some for me? I like a challenge!"**

**Leo got to his feet, breathing hard. He looked completely humiliated, his hands bleeding from clawing at the rocks. "Yo, Coach Supergoat, whatever you are—I just fell down the freaking Grand Canyon! Stop asking for challenges!"**

Everybody started craking up.

**Dylan hissed at them, but Jason could see fear in his eyes. "You have no idea how many enemies you've awakened, half-bloods. My mistress will destroy all demigods. This war you cannot win."I've heard that one before," Percy said.**

"Yeah... but it's not something that I really wanted to hear again," Annabeth added frowning.

**He lunged at Jason, but Piper tackled the monster from behind. Even though he was made of smoke, Piper somehow managed to connect. Both of them went sprawling.**

**Leo, Jason, and the coach surged forward to help, but the spirit screamed with rage. He let loose a torrent that knocked them all backward. Jason and Coach Hedge landed on their butts. Jason's sword skidded across the glass. Leo hit the back of his head and curled on his side, dazed and groaning. Piper got the worst of it. She was thrown off Dylan's back and hit the railing, tumbling over the side until she was hanging by one hand over the abyss.**

"Thank You for pushing him away for me"Jason said.

"Ohh dont worry rember I guess I really liked you then" piper replied blushing just like Jaosn.

**Jason started toward her, but Dylan screamed, "I'll settle for this one!"**

**He grabbed Leo's arm and began to rise, towing a half-conscious Leo below him. The storm spun faster, pulling them upward like a vacuum cleaner.**

**"Help!" Piper yelled. "Somebody!"**

**Then she slipped, screaming as she fell.**

"No" Everybody yelled, even if they didnt know her they didnt want her to die.

"You cant die, you just cant die" Jason tried comforting him but it didnt work.

"Jason you know you are going to save her"Hazel replied.

**"Jason, go!" Hedge yelled. "Save her!"**

"What?" Thalia said outraged. "How the hell is he supposed the save her?"

"Um..." no one had an answer except all the romans to that and Nico quickly started reading again.

**The coach launched himself at the spirit with some serious goat fu—lashing out with his hooves, knocking Leo free from the spirit's grasp. Leo dropped safely to the floor, but Dylan grappled the coach's arms instead. Hedge tried to head-butt him, then kicked him and called him a cupcake. They rose into the air, gaining speed.**

**Coach Hedge shouted down once more, "Save her! I got this!" Then the satyr and the storm spirit spiraled into the clouds and disappeared.**

**Save her? Jason thought. She's gone!**

**But again his instincts won. He ran to the railing, thinking, I'm a lunatic, and jumped over the side.**

"You are a freaking lunatic! What are you doing?" Thalia yelled at the book.

"Saving Piper," Percy answer and she glared at him.

"Look, I know that saving someone is important... but he just jumped off a cliff!" Thalia said. "How is that going to save anyone?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "But sometimes you just have to have faith that it will work out in the end."

Thalia didn't know what to say to that, but she sat back down, trying to believe that Percy was right, and this would work out somehow.

"What are you doing you freking luntic just let me go you shouldnt have got killed to" Piper yelled.

"Calm down Beauty Queen its going to be okay" Leo replied.

Piper camly sat and Reyna were both jealous, Jason because he saving her and he should give her the comfort and telling her nick names and telling her to calm he didnt care because she gave him her dazling smile and hugged everybody knows why Reyna was instead of showing anger she kissed Leo on the cheek.

and said "you really know how to calm someone down".

Leo couldnt respond because he was to speachless.

**Jason wasn't scared of heights. He was scared of being smashed against the canyon floor five hundred feet below. **

"You know I..." Connor started to say but realized just in time that right now wasn't the best time to tease Thalia about her fear. She already seemed to be quite crazed at the moment.

**He figured he hadn't accomplished anything except for dying along with Piper, but he tucked in his arms and plummeted headfirst. The sides of the canyon raced past like a film on fast-forward. His face felt like it was peeling off.**

**In a heartbeat, he caught up with Piper, who was flailing wildly. He tackled her waist and closed his eyes, waiting for death. Piper screamed. The wind whistled in Jason's ears.**

**He wondered what dying would feel like. **

Percy frowned at that, he had thought about that several times himself.

**He was thinking, probably not so good. He wished somehow they could never hit bottom.**

**Suddenly the wind died. Piper's scream turned into a strangled gasp. Jason thought they must be dead, but he hadn't felt any impact.**

**"J-J-Jason," Piper managed.**

**He opened his eyes. They weren't falling. They were floating in midair, a hundred feet above the river.**

"No way!" Connor said.

"How are you doing that?" Travis asked.

"son of Jupiter"

"I bet you I could do that "Travis said to his brother.

katie overheard and said " You would fall down and break your face"

"Want a bet"

"Yes I do"

"If I win you have to kiss me"

"and if I win which I will you have to give me 50 damchas"

" Just to warn you I never loose a bet"

So Travis went to the Hermes cabin and counted "1,2,3" and he jumped he would have fallen and broken everybone in his body if Jason hadnt controlled the wind "Yes im flying in your face Gardner"he yelled

"Actually Jason controlling the winds you Dumb Ass"

" I said if I was flying,which I was so Ha"

"No Way you bent the rules" Katie yelled.

" I told you I never looses a bet"

So when he got down she gave him a kiss on the cheek and said "You didnt say where to kiss you"

"Ohhh i see bending the rules"

"Can we get back to reading you Love Birds"Nico asked.

**He hugged Piper tight, and she repositioned herself so she was hugging him too. They were nose to nose. Her heart beat so hard, Jason could feel it through her clothes.**

**Her breath smelled like cinnamon.**

Everybody was laughing "You actually smelled her breath"Conner asked.

"I dont know and leave me alone" Jason yelled.

"Its Ok Jason " Piper said.

She said, "How did you—"

**"I didn't," he said. "I think I would know if I could fly…"**

"Think again," Connor chuckled.

**But then he thought: I don't even know who I am.**

**He imagined going up. Piper yelped as they shot a few feet higher. They weren't exactly floating, Jason decided. He could feel pressure under his feet like they were balancing at the top of a geyser.**

**"The air is supporting us," he said.**

**"Well, tell it to support us more! Get us out of here!"**

**Jason looked down. The easiest thing would be to sink gently to the canyon floor. Then he looked up. The rain had stopped. The storm clouds didn't seem as bad, but they were still rumbling and flashing. There was no guarantee the spirits were gone for good.**

**He had no idea what had happened to Coach Hedge. And he'd left Leo up there, barely conscious.**

**"We have to help them," Piper said, as if reading his thoughts. "Can you—"**

**"Let's see." Jason thought Up, and instantly they shot skyward.**

"Cool!" Nico said. "That really is a useful trick."

**The fact he was riding the winds might've been cool under different circumstances, but he was too much in shock. As soon as they landed on the skywalk, they ran to Leo.**

**Piper turned Leo over, and he groaned. His army coat was soaked from the rain. His curly hair glittered gold from rolling around in monster dust. But at least he wasn't dead.**

**"Stupid … ugly … goat," he muttered.**

**"Where did he go?" Piper asked.**

**Leo pointed straight up. "Never came down. Please tell me he didn't actually save my life."**

**"Twice," Jason said.**

**Leo groaned even louder. "What happened? The tornado guy, the gold sword … I hit my head. That's it, right? I'm hallucinating?"**

**Jason had forgotten about the sword. He walked over to where it was lying and picked it up. The blade was well balanced. On a hunch he flipped it. Midspin, the sword shrank back into a coin and landed in his palm.**

"What did I tell you, much better than a pen," Connor chuckled.

"Does it come back to him if he loses it?" Percy then said.

"Um... how should I know that?" Connor frowned.

"I don't know... but all I can say is that I'll take my pen any day," Percy said.

**"Yep," Leo said. "Definitely hallucinating."**

**Piper shivered in her rain-soaked clothes. "Jason, those things—"**

**"Venti," he said. "Storm spirits."**

**"Okay. You acted like … like you'd seen them before. Who are you?"**

**He shook his head. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't know."**

**The storm dissipated. The other kids from the Wilderness School were staring out the glass doors in horror. Security guards were working on the locks now, but they didn't seem to be having any luck.**

**"Coach Hedge said he had to protect three people," Jason remembered. "I think he meant us."**

**"And that thing Dylan turned into …" Piper shuddered. "God, I can't believe it was hitting on me. He called us... what, demigods?"**

**Leo lay on his back, staring at the sky. He didn't seem anxious to get up. "Don't know what demi means," he said. "But I'm not feeling too godly. You guys feeling godly?"**

"Unfortunately you don't get to feel godly too often," Percy frowned.

**There was a brittle sound like dry twigs snapping, and the cracks in the skywalk began to widen.**

**"We need to get off this thing," Jason said. "Maybe if we—"**

**"Ohhh-kay," Leo interrupted. "Look up there and tell me if those are flying horses."**

"Do you think it's someone from camp?" Rachel asked hopeful.

"Probably thats the way it looks like it "Octavian said.

Rachel was suprised she didnt even think he could talk.

**At first Jason thought Leo had hit his head too hard. Then he saw a dark shape descending from the east—too slow for a plane, too large for a bird. As it got closer he could see a pair of winged animals—gray, four-legged, exactly like horses—except each one had a twenty-foot wingspan. And they were pulling a brightly painted box with two wheels: a chariot.**

**"Reinforcements," he said. "Hedge told me an extraction squad was coming for us."**

**"Extraction squad?" Leo struggled to his feet. "That sounds painful."**

**"And where are they extracting us to ?" Piper asked.**

**Jason watched as the chariot landed on the far end of the skywalk. The flying horses tucked in their wings and cantered nervously across the glass, as if they sensed it was near breaking. Two teenagers stood in the chariot—a tall blond girl maybe a little older than Jason, **

Percy couldn't help but look at his girlfriend at this, wondering if it was her.

**and a bulky dude with a shaved head and a face like a pile of bricks. **

And now he was scowling, both wondering who this guy was, and why, if the girl was Annabeth, he wasn't there with her.

"Ohh I see you Jealous percy"Conner and Travis teased.

"NO" he yelled replied.

"Seweed brain there nothing to be jealous about"Annabeth said

**They both wore jeans and orange T-shirts, with shields tossed over their backs. The girl leaped off before the chariot had even finished moving. She pulled a knife and ran toward Jason's group while the bulky dude was reining in the horses.**

"Well I guess that answer my question," Percy said.

"Annabeth! What are you doing?" Thalia questioned her friend, it seemed no one had any doubts that this blonde girl was Annabeth now.

"Um... I don't know," Annabeth said.

**"Where is he?" the girl demanded. Her gray eyes were fierce and a little startling.**

**"Where's who?" Jason asked.**

"Good question Jason, I think we'd all like to know that," Connor said.

**She frowned like his answer was unacceptable. Then she turned to Leo and Piper.**

**"What about Gleeson? Where is your protector, Gleeson Hedge?"**

**The coach's first name was Gleeson? Jason might've laughed if the morning hadn't been quite so weird and scary. Gleeson Hedge: football coach, goat man, protector of demigods. Sure. Why not?**

**Leo cleared his throat. "He got taken by some … tornado things."**

**"Venti," Jason said. "Storm spirits."**

**The blond girl arched an eyebrow. "You mean anemoi thuellai ? That's the Greek term. Who are you, and what happened?"**

" Alot thats why were reading this book Annie" Conner called.

Annabeth couldnt take it anymore so she hit travis with a Rock and he just blacked out

**Jason did his best to explain, though it was hard to meet those intense gray eyes. About halfway through the story, the other guy from the chariot came over. He stood there glaring at them, his arms crossed. He had a tattoo of a rainbow on his biceps, which seemed a little unusual.**

"A rainbow... really!" Connor said laughing.

"I would bet anything he's a son of Iris," Nico said.

"Anything?" Connor said with a smirk before he frowned. "Never mind... you're probably right. Why else would anyone get a rainbow tattoo?"

**When Jason had finished his story, the blond girl didn't look satisfied. "No, no, no! She told me he would be here. She told me if I came here, I'd find the answer."**

Annabeth shivered at that.

"What is it?" Percy asked wrapping his arms around her.

Annabeth shook her head, she couldn't be right... she just couldn't.

**"Annabeth," the bald guy grunted. "Check it out." He pointed at Jason's feet. Jason hadn't thought much about it, but he was still missing his left shoe, which had been blown off by the lightning. His bare foot felt okay, but it looked like a lump of charcoal.**

**"The guy with one shoe," said the bald dude. "He's the answer."**

**"No, Butch," the girl insisted. "He can't be. I was tricked." She glared at the sky as though it had done something wrong. "What do you want from me?" she screamed.**

"Well... it looks like Annabeth is going to go crazy in the near future," Travis said. "Tough luck Percy."

"Don't joke about this," Annabeth said coldly and then closing her eyes painfully.

Percy was starting to get really worried about his girlfriend.

What have you done with him?"

**The skywalk shuddered, and the horses whinnied urgently.**

**"Annabeth," said the bald dude, Butch, "we gotta leave. Let's get these three to camp and figure it out there. Those storm spirits might come back."**

**She fumed for a moment. "Fine." She fixed Jason with a resentful look. "We'll settle this later."**

"You really shouldn't take your angry out on him," Thalia said to her friend in a sharp tone.

"I don't think I have much control over that right now," Annabeth said softly.

**She turned on her heel and marched toward the chariot.**

**Piper shook her head. "What's her problem? What's going on?"**

**"Seriously," Leo agreed.**

**"We have to get you out of here," Butch said. "I'll explain on the way."**

**"I'm not going anywhere with her." Jason gestured toward the blonde. "She looks like she wants to kill me."**

"Sorry I really dont act like this and you every body Greek knows that"Annabeth said.

**Butch hesitated. "Annabeth's okay. You gotta cut her some slack. She had a vision telling her to come here, to find a guy with one shoe. That was supposed to be the answer to her problem."**

**"What problem?" Piper asked.**

**"She's been looking for one of our campers, who's been missing three days," Butch said. "She's going out of her mind with worry. She hoped he'd be here."**

The tension in the group mounted at these words, everyone seemed to be holding their breaths.

**"Who?" Jason asked.**

**Nico gulped, before reading in a grave voice...**

**"Her boyfriend," Butch said. "A guy named Percy Jackson."**

"Noooo...!" Annabeth moaned pulling Percy closer to her, her worst fears just confirmed.

Percy, feeling numbed by this news, mumbled almost automatically, "It's okay... I'm here now... we won't let this happen..."

"You disappeared!" Travis said in shock.

They were by no means the only one to react to this. Everyone was in shock that Percy of all people would be missing.

"You're gone," Annabeth final was about to say.

"Not yet I'm not," Percy answered, holding her closely towards him. He hoped he would be found soon, for he knew what it had felt like when she was missing and something told him it was going to be even more difficult on her because of how much things had changed in their relationship since then. She hugged him tighter at those words, trying to believe that they meant something. That she could stop him from disappearing at all. She didn't know what she would do if he was gone.

"We have to keep reading," Rachel said. "That's the only way we'll know what's going on!"

"She's right," Annabeth said in a distant voice. "The more information we have the better off we'll be... Nico..."

"That was the end of the chapter," Nico said giving the book to Rachel.

* * *

_**(Just so we know im not following the seating arrangement that hey are in)**_

**I Hate Authors note ok so I hope you like this chapter and some mean person said that I didnt use periods so Ha guess what this chapter is bursting with Periods.**


	4. Piper III

**Sorry for not posting in a long while school so ya you know all the odds.I would also like to say something to all you meanies or what i call loosers if your being mean im calling you a looser if your not going to say something nice in your reviews i recon you dont write a all know i love comments,suggetions and others thing just dont be mean cause if your being mean nothing beter to do.**

* * *

Chapter 3

**Piper III**

"**Piper III," **Rachel read.

Piper was worrying, she didn't want people to know her thoughts. Nico caught her nervous look and gave her a wink. Unknown to them Jason saw and grew slightly jealous.

**AFTER A MORNING OF STORM SPIRIT'S, goat men, and flying boyfriends, Piper should've been losing her mind. Instead, all she felt was dread.**

"Well, at least that's almost a good thing," Connor said, looking sad. He didn't want Percy to disappear, he may not say this aloud but he really admired Percy.

**It's starting, she thought. Just like the dream said.**

**She stood in back of the chariot with Leo and Jason, while the bald guy, Butch, handled the reins, and the blond girl, Annabeth, adjusted a bronze navigation device. They rose over the Grand Canyon and headed east, icy wind ripping straight through Piper's jacket. Behind them, more storm clouds were gathering.**

"Thats got to be bad"Percy said.

**The chariot lurched and bumped. It had no seat belts and the back was wide open, so Piper wondered if Jason would catch her again if she fell. That had been the most disturbing part of the morning—not that Jason could fly, but that he'd held her in his arms and yet didn't know who she was.**

Piper looked down sad then she thought what the heck am i sad saw this and he wanted to comfort her and he was so happy that he switched positions so he was next to Piper but know Leo couldnt comfort her Wow he thought that is he did it out of He just took her hand he didnt want Piper to be Sad.

**All semester she'd worked on a relationship, trying to get Jason to notice her as more than a friend. Finally she'd gotten the big dope to kiss her.**

All the girls looked at her sadly.

Annabeth thought this would be hard on her she wouldnt know what she would have done if Percy forgot about rembered how long it had gotten her big dope to kiss her.

The last few weeks had been the best of her life. And then, three nights ago, the dream had ruined everything—that horrible voice, giving her horrible news. She hadn't told anyone about it, not even Jason.

"Voices are the worst," said Travis

"Yea there all like _turn evil and you will have ultimate power_, and I'm all like no way dude that's so creepy," said Conner while everyone even Travis stared at him like he was a crazy.

"What? I'm not crazy. Honest Travis had me checked out," Conner said to all the looks.

Travis nodded and said," It's true the tests say he's normal, but I think there rigged."

**Now she didn't even have him . It was like someone had wiped his memory, and she was stuck in the worst "do over" of all time. She wanted to scream. Jason stood right next to her: those sky blue eyes, close-cropped blond hair, that cute little scar on his upper lip.**

Everyone turned to stare at the scar on Jason's lip except for Thalia who was smiling at the memory.

Jason was getting really uncomfortable while everybody was looking at him but he was very happy that Piper had described him at cute his smile was started to wonder why Jason was smiling so much, then she rembered that she had described him has cute god this is going to be an anoying chapter it probably just says that he is cute and all that bla bla stuff.

**His face was kind and gentle, but always a little sad. And he just stared at the horizon, not even noticing her.**

"Sorry for not notcing you just probably"Jason said.

Piper cut him off "Noo its ok,you just lost your memory and just thinking and trying to rember friend, family and" she choked the last word out "girl-friend".

**Meanwhile, Leo was being annoying, as usual. "This is so cool!" He spit a pegasus feather out of his mouth. "Where are we going?"**

"Is Leo's behavior ringing a bell Nico?" Percy chuckled, looking at Nico who started frowning.

"Why did you ask him that no offence but you don't look like a hyper-active kid" Piper asked wondering what Percy was talking about.

"I don't think you'll believe me Piper but Nico here used to be like Leo all hyper-active and weird." Percy replied to her laughing.

"HEY!" yelled both Leo and Nico at the same time. Thalia rolled her eyes and aked Rachel to keep reading.

A safe place," Annabeth said. "The only safe place for kids like us. Camp Half-Blood."

**"Half-Blood?" Piper was immediately on guard. She hated that word. She'd been called a half-blood too many times—half Cherokee, half white—and it was never a compliment.**

"Some people can be such jerks," Thalia said while shaking her head.

**"Is that some kind of bad joke?"**

**"She means we're demigods," Jason said. "Half god, half mortal."**

"How do you know that I thought you lost your memory?"Conner asked.

Jason shrugged and said," I guess I still know some thing."

**Annabeth looked back. "You seem to know a lot, Jason. But, yes, demigods. My mom is Athena, goddess of wisdom. Butch here is the son of Iris, the rainbow goddess."**

**Leo choked. "Your mom is a rainbow goddess?"**

**"Got a problem with that?" Butch said.**

"Something tells me that you really shouldn't insult his mom Leo unless you want to get hurt." Connor said to Leo.

"Good to know." Leo said gravely.

**"No, no," Leo said. "Rainbows. Very macho."**

**"Butch is our best equestrian," Annabeth said. "He gets along great with the pegasi."**

All the demigods-Piper, Leo, Jason excluded- and Aphrodite frowned at that, thinking of Silena, the last person that was the best at taming the pegasi.

Rainbows, ponies," Leo muttered.

**"I'm gonna toss you off this chariot," Butch warned.**

**"Demigods," Piper said. "You mean you think you're … you think we're—"**

**Lightning flashed. The chariot shuddered, and Jason yelled, "Left wheel's on fire!"**

"That doesn't seen good," Nico said stating the obvious.

"No shit Sherlock," Thalia said angrily.

"Hey no need to get angry with me I just said what everyone else was thinking," Nico said although he actually starting thinking about the time he talked to Sherlock Holmes in the underworld.

**Piper stepped back. Sure enough, the wheel was burning, white flames lapping up the side of the chariot.**

**The wind roared. Piper glanced behind them and saw dark shapes forming in the clouds, more storm spirits spiraling toward the chariot—except these looked more like horses than angels.**

**She started to say, "Why are they—"**

**"Anemoi come in different shapes," Annabeth said. "Sometimes human, sometimes stallions, depending on how chaotic they are. Hold on. This is going to get rough."**

**Butch flicked the reins. The pegasi put on a burst of speed, and the chariot blurred.**

**Piper's stomach crawled into her throat. Her vision went black, and when it came back to normal, they were in a totally different place.**

"I hate it when the pegasi do that" Travis grumbled.

"Yea but in the book it saved them." Thalia said although she didn't like it either.

**A cold gray ocean stretched out to the left. Snow-covered fields, roads, and forests spread to the right. Directly below them was a green valley, like an island of springtime, rimmed with snowy hills on three sides and water to the north. Piper saw a cluster of buildings like ancient Greek temples, a big blue mansion, ball courts, a lake, and a climbing wall that seemed to be on fire. But before she could really process all she was seeing, their wheels came off and the chariot dropped out of the sky.**

"Something tells me Annabeth is going to get in trouble for destroying that chariot," Conner said with a smirk.

Annabeth couldnt take it any-more so she just threw a huge big rock and he was knocked out.

exhausted from their burst of speed, and bearing the chariot and the weight of five people was just too much.

**"The lake!" Annabeth yelled. "Aim for the lake!"**

**Piper remembered something her dad had once told her, about hitting water from up high being as bad as hitting cement.**

"hmmm I never actually noticed that," Percy said, trying to Annabeth to say something, but she wouldn't make a sound.

"Obviously you wouldn't you the son of Poseidon, idiot." Thalia said rolling her eyes.

"You know Thalia one day your eyes are going to fall off from rolling them to much," Percy said annoyed.

**And then— BOOM .**

**The biggest shock was the cold. She was underwater, so disoriented that she didn't know which way was up.**

"Yep there's another thing I hate," Travis said grimacing

"You hate a lot of thing" Katie said

"yes cause there is a lot of things to hate"travis said.

"All right we get you hate a lot of things can we please move on now." Percy said still annoyed at Thalia's previous comment.

**She just had time to think: This would be a stupid way to die. Then faces appeared in the green murk—girls with long black hair and glowing yellow eyes. They smiled at her, grabbed her shoulders, and hauled her up.**

**They tossed her, gasping and shivering, onto the shore. Nearby, Butch stood in the lake, cutting the wrecked harnesses off the pegasi. Fortunately, the horses looked okay, but they were flapping their wings and splashing water everywhere.**

"Yeah water isn't exactly there favourite," Percy said.

**Jason, Leo, and Annabeth were already on shore, surrounded by kids giving them blankets and asking questions. Somebody took Piper by the arms and helped her stand. Apparently kids fell into the lake a lot,**

"Not really, but there have been some accidents." Travis said," Right Percy?" he said wiggling his eyebrows at Percy.

Percy and Annabeth were blushing like red apples.

Katie just hit Travis "Why you got to embrasses them"

Finally Conner woke up and "Its Fun Duhh"

**because a detail of campers ran up with big bronze leaf blower–looking things and blasted Piper with hot air; and in about two seconds her clothes were dry.**

**There were at least twenty campers milling around—the youngest maybe nine, the oldest college age, eighteen or nineteen—and all of them had orange T-shirts like Annabeth's. Piper looked back at the water and saw those strange girls just below the surface, their hair floating in the current. They waved like, toodle-oo , and disappeared into the depths. A second later the wreckage of the chariot was tossed from the lake and landed nearby with a wet crunch.**

**"Annabeth!" A guy with a bow and quiver on h**

**is back pushed through the crowd. "I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!"**

Everyone burst out laughing at this **"Will, I'm sorry," Annabeth sighed. "I'll get it fixed, I promise."**

**Will scowled at his broken chariot. Then he sized up Piper, Leo, and Jason. "These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"**

**"Claimed?" Leo asked.**

**Before Annabeth could explain, Will said, "Any sign of Percy?"**

The tension in the room which had slowly started to dispatch grew as everyone became sad.

**"No," Annabeth admitted.**

**The campers muttered. Piper had no idea who this guy Percy was, but his disappearance seemed to be a big deal.**

"Awww so nice to know how much you guys care about me," Percy said.

"Great that just inflated his already oversized ego," Thalia said.

"I'd like it if you kept me and my ego out of your comments," Percy stated.

**Another girl stepped forward—tall, Asian, dark hair in ringlets, plenty of jewelry, and perfect makeup.**

"Of course it's Drew," Thalia said angrily while all the demigods who new Drew also got angry.

"Whose Drew?" asked Piper.

"She's the head of the Aphrodie cabin and a total bitch," Thalia said with an angry glare in her eyes.

**Somehow she managed to make jeans and an orange T-shirt look glamorous. She glanced at Leo, fixed her eyes on Jason like he might be worthy of her attention, then curled her lip at Piper as if she were a week-old burrito that had just been pulled out of a Dumpster. Piper knew this girl's type. She'd dealt with a lot of girls like this at Wilderness School and every other stupid school her father had sent her to. Piper knew instantly they were going to be enemies.**

**"Well," the girl said, "I hope they're worth the trouble."**

**Leo snorted. "Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?"**

**"No kidding," Jason said. "How about some answers before you start judging us—like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"**

**Piper had the same questions, but a wave of anxiety washed over her. Worth the trouble. If they only knew about her dream. They had no idea…**

"Piper your really starting to worry me about this dream thing," Thalia said frowning.

Piper shrugged not sure what to say she too was wondering what dreams her book self was talking about.

**"Jason," Annabeth said, "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew,"—she frowned at the glamour girl—"all demigods are worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."**

"Way to be optimistic," Travis said sarcastically.

"Not now Travis," Percy said shaking his head.

"Ok before anything happens i know you guys are all going to look at me i am not jealous of some stupid aphrotite girl, cause i can sence that shes going to do somthing with Jason"Piper said.

Everone just looked at her.

"Well it good that your are not the jealous type"Jason said he hated when his friends were jealous if he was talking to just a person who was his friend.

"and why would me not being jealous be good "Piper could be jealous and the right time she could sence if some one like each other or if they didnt. Thats why she wasnt Jealous of Reyna she could only see brotherly sisterly love between her and Jason.

Jason turned Red and was sturring.

Nico got irritated, while every-body was watching amused except Leo who was laughing his but off."Rachel just read before anything else happens"

**"Hey," Piper said, "we didn't ask to be brought here."**

**Drew sniffed. "And nobody wants you, hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"**

**Piper stepped forward, ready to smack her, but Annabeth said, "Piper, stop."**

**Piper did. She wasn't a bit scared of Drew, but Annabeth didn't seem like somebody she wanted for an enemy.**

"Yep your so right about that Piper." Percy said

**"We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome," Annabeth said, with another pointed look at Drew. "We'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of camp. Hopefully by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."**

**"Would somebody tell me what claimed means?" Piper asked.**

**Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away. At first Piper thought she'd done something wrong. Then she realized their faces were bathed in a strange red light, as if someone had lit a torch behind her. She turned and almost forgot how to breathe.**

**Floating over Leo's head was a blazing holographic image —a fiery hammer.**

"Oh shit guys it's Hephaestus!"Travis screamed.

"We already knew that Apollo," Katie said.

**"That," Annabeth said, "is claiming."**

**"What'd I do?" Leo backed toward the lake. Then he glanced up and yelped. "Is my hair on fire?"**

Everyone laughed at that.

**He ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames with his head.**

"This is probably one of the funniest claims ever," Connor said laughing.

**"This can't be good," Butch muttered. "The curse—"**

"What curse" Percy asked.

But nobody knew.

**"Butch, shut up," Annabeth said. "Leo, you've just been claimed—"**

**"By a god," Jason interrupted. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?"**

"Vulcan?" Nico asked

"That's the roman equivalent of Hephaestus," Octavian Replied.

**All eyes turned to him.**

**"Jason," Annabeth said carefully, "how did you know that?"**

**"I'm not sure."**

**"Vulcan?" Leo demanded. "I don't even LIKE Star Trek .**

"Umm Leo how do you even know Star Trek" Rachel aked.

"I dont even know" Leo responded.

"Probably watched it when he was younger" Octavian replied.

"Probablly so"Leo said.

**What are you talking about?"**

**"Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus," Annabeth said, "the god of blacksmiths and fire."**

**The fiery hammer faded, but Leo kept swatting the air like he was afraid it was following him. "The god of what? Who?"**

**Annabeth turned to the guy with the bow. "Will, would you take Leo, give him a tour? Introduce him to his bunk-mates in Cabin Nine."**

**"Sure, Annabeth."**

**"What's Cabin Nine?" Leo asked. "And I'm not a Vulcan!"**

**"Come on, Mr. Spock, I'll explain everything."**

Everyone burst out laughing.

**Will put a hand on his shoulder and steered him off toward the cabins.**

**Annabeth turned her attention back to Jason. Usually Piper didn't like it when other girls checked out her boyfriend, but Annabeth didn't seem to care that he was a good-looking guy.**

"She better not." Percy said putting his arm around Annabeth who blushed.

"You know that i only like you Seaweed brain"

"yeah"

**She studied him more like he was a complicated blueprint. Finally she said, "Hold out your arm."**

**Piper saw what she was looking at, and her eyes widened.**

**Jason had taken off his windbreaker after his dip in the lake, leaving his arms bare, and on the inside of his right forearm was a tattoo. How had Piper never noticed it before?**

**She'd looked at Jason's arms a million times. The tattoo couldn't have just appeared, but it was darkly etched, impossible to miss: a dozen straight lines like a bar code, and over that an eagle with the letters SPQR.**

**I've never seen marks like this," Annabeth said. "Where did you get them?"**

**Jason shook his head. "I'm getting really tired of saying this, but I don't know."**

**The other campers pushed forward, trying to get a look at Jason's tattoo. The marks seemed to bother them a lot— almost like a declaration of war.**

No one felt like that right now but they were all beginning to get incredibly curious.

**"They look burned into your skin," Annabeth noticed.**

**"They were," Jason said. Then he winced as if his head was aching. "I mean … I think so. I don't remember."**

**No one said anything. It was clear the campers saw Annabeth as the leader. They were waiting for her verdict.**

"Hmm I honestly never noticed that," Annabeth said.

**"He needs to go straight to Chiron," Annabeth decided. "Drew, would you—"**

**"Absolutely." Drew laced her arm through Jason's.**

"Jason I'm telling you now you better stay away from her," Thalia told Jason.

"Yea she doesn't really seem like someone I want to make friends with,." Jason said.

**"This way, sweetie. I'll introduce you to our director. He's … an interesting guy." She flashed Piper a smug look and led Jason toward the big blue house on the hill.**

**The crowd began to disperse, until only Annabeth and Piper were left.**

**"Who's Chiron?" Piper asked. "Is Jason in some kind of trouble?"**

**Annabeth hesitated. "Good question, Piper. Come on, I'll give you a tour. We need to talk."**

"That's the end of the chapter," Thalia said.

"Yep" Rachel replied.

and handed to Octavian they both felt sparks when there hands also started to Octavian was sturing "Thanks"

Everybody watched amused.


	5. Piper IV

**Chapter 4**

**Piper IV**

Everybody was watching in amusement has rachel and Octavian had felt Percy he was becoming over protective was laughing Percy, could be such a seaweed brain.

Reyna,Frank,Hazel cracked a smile so did Jason.

Reyna was getting irritated Leo was not even noticing her mission was to be more romantic for him to notice her and in this chapter or the next she will atleast kiss him on her cheek.

**Piper IV" **Octavian began.

**PIPER SOON REALIZED ANNABETH'S HEART wasn't in the tour.**

"sorry this time i promise ill give you a proper one,I guess i was just really sad"Annabeth said.

**She talked about all this amazing stuff the camp offered—magic, archery, pegasus riding, the lava wall, fighting monsters —but she showed no excitement, as if her mind were elsewhere. She pointed out the open-air dining pavilion that overlooked Long Island Sound. (Yes, Long Island, New York; they'd traveled that far on the chariot.)**

"Umm Piper that's not exactly impressive," Travis said attentively.

"Are you serious? That's like across the country," Piper said. "It is impressive."

**Annabeth explained how Camp Half-Blood was mostly a summer camp, but some kids stayed here year-round, and they'd added so many campers it was always crowded now, even in winter.**

**Piper wondered who ran the camp, and how they'd known Piper and her friends belonged here. She wondered if she'd have to stay full-time, or if she'd be any good at the activities. Could you flunk out of monster fighting?**

"Not really its more like pass or die," Travis said nonchalantly.

"Are you freaking kidding me," Leo screamed," that is so awesome!" Everyone just stared at Leo all of them thinking about how weird he was.

**A million questions bubbled in her head, but given Annabeth's mood, she decided to keep quiet.**

"Again sorry, but if you have any questions I'll answer them after were done this book,"Annabeth said to Piper. Piper nodded for some reason she knew exactly how Annabeth felt, the heartache at losing her boyfriend, which was weird, and it creeped Piper out.

**As they climbed a hill at the edge of camp, Piper turned and got an amazing view of the valley—a big stretch of woods to the northwest, a beautiful beach, the creek, the canoe lake, lush green fields, and the whole layout of the cabins—a bizarre assortment of buildings arranged like a Greek omega, with a loop of cabins around a central green, and two wings sticking out the bottom on either side. Piper counted twenty cabins in all.**

Everyone smiled at the mention of how many cabins there were. Camp half-blood was really growing and it made everyone happy.

**One glowed golden, another silver. One had grass on the roof. Another was bright red with barbed wire trenches. One cabin was black with fiery green torches out front.**

"Yep my cabin is so the best," Nico said when his cabin was mentioned.

Thalia nodded and said,"I got to admit his cabin is really nice."

"Thank-You at least sombody appretiates my work"

"Your welcome"

_**(For The Record i dont like how thalia is in the hunt so im going to make her quit sorry i just really like Thalia and i am really sorry Oh bye the way she and Nico are both 16 and Nico likes her but shes in the hunt so he lays off and this is just 3 weeks later after the titan war"**_

"All off you listen up,I have an annuncement"Thalia said.

Everybody started paying attention.

"Well everybody knows how the Titans War just ended".

"Yeah, that was a painful year"Travis said.

Katie hit him "It still the same year duface and let her continue".

"Ok any-ways I have fallen in Love so i will quit the hunt next year in December cause thats the time Artemis is in a good mood"

"Wait fallen in Love with who"Annabeth asked?

Nico thought fat chance thats me.

"Nico"

Nico was so happy he walked up to her and gave her a big was so happy for them.

"Artemis has also told me, from Apollo she heard that there going to be another war something called the Giant war"

"Great another War"Percy and Jason said.

"Wait, If this book takes place in about December the war must be in the summer" Piper said.

"How do you know that"Frank asked.

"its really easy, it looks like it took place in the winter. I read about all the propechy so there must be one, with all have to find the people meet them get to know them become you will need time to prepare and learn and that takes about monts so thats how"

"WOW"everybody said they were very amazed.

**All of it seemed like a different world from the snowy hills and fields outside.**

**"The valley is protected from mortal eyes," Annabeth said. "As you can see, the weather is controlled, too. Each cabin represents a Greek god—a place for that god's children to live."**

**She looked at Piper like she was trying to judge how Piper was handling the news.**

**"You're saying Mom was a goddess."**

**Annabeth nodded. "You're taking this awfully calmly."**

"Yea your taking it way better then a few people in this room did,"Thalia said looking at Percy and then at Nico.

" We weren't that bad," Percy said to his girlfriend and she just rolled her eyes and told him to continue reading.

**Piper couldn't tell her why. She couldn't admit that this just confirmed some weird feelings she'd had for years, arguments she'd had with her father about why there were no photos of Mom in the house, and why Dad would never tell her exactly how or why her mom had left them. But mostly, the dream had warned her this was coming. Soon they will find you, demigod, that voice had rumbled. When they do, follow our directions. Cooperate, and your father might live.**

"Will you tell us who your father is"Percy and Nico and Leo asked.

"Nope"

"Preety please with a cherry on top"

"The book will probably say it"

**Piper took a shaky breath. "I guess after this morning, it's a little easier to believe. So who's my mom?"**

**"We should know soon," Annabeth said. "You're what—fifteen? Gods are supposed to claim you when you're thirteen. That was the deal."**

**"The deal?"**

**"They made a promise last summer … well, long story… but they promised not to ignore their demigod children anymore, to claim them by the time they turn thirteen. Sometimes it takes a little longer, but you saw how fast Leo was claimed once he got here. Should happen for you soon. Tonight at the campfire, I bet we'll get a sign."**

"Yes we finally get to find out who your godly parent is," Travis said Piper smiled but it was a weak smile.

**Piper wondered if she'd have a big flaming hammer over her head, or with her luck, something even more embarrassing. A flaming wombat, maybe.**

Everyone laughed at that.

**Whoever her mother was, Piper had no reason to think she'd be proud to claim a kleptomaniac daughter with massive problems.**

"No in fact demi-gods who think there messed up with a bunch of problems actually get claimed because it's the thing our parents most love about us even if they may not show it sometimes." Connor said and everyone stared at him in shock.

"Conner, man that was deep," Travis said.

"Really? Hmmm I just read it off this fortune cookie," Conner said, "see?" he said holding it up for everyone to see as Travis just shook his head at him.

**"Why thirteen?"**

**"The older you get," Annabeth said, "the more monsters notice you, try to kill you. 'Round thirteen is usually when it starts. That's why we send protectors into the schools to find you guys, get you to camp before it's too late."**

**"Like Coach Hedge?"**

**Annabeth nodded. "He's—he was a satyr: half man, half goat. Satyrs work for the camp, finding demigods, protecting them, bringing them in when the time is right."**

**Piper had no trouble believing Coach Hedge was half goat. She'd seen the guy eat.**

"Satyr's do have an interesting appetite," Reyna said.

"I thought you used the word faun"

"oh i just felt like it is there a problem"

"No, I like my lady fiesty"Leo said.

Reyna was just blushing while everybody was laughing.

**She'd never liked the coach much, but she couldn't believe he'd sacrificed himself to save them.**

**"What happened to him?" she asked. "When we went up into the clouds, did he … is he gone for good?"**

**"Hard to say." Annabeth's expression was pained. "Storm spirits … difficult to battle. Even our best weapons, Celestial bronze, will pass right through them unless you can catch them by surprise."**

**"Jason's sword just turned them to dust," Piper remembered.**

**"He was lucky, then. If you hit a monster just right, you can dissolve them, send their essence back to Tartarus."**

**"Tartarus?"**

**"A huge abyss in the Underworld, where the worst monsters come from. Kind of like a bottomless pit of evil.**

**Anyway, once monsters dissolve, it usually takes months, even years before they can re-form again. But since this storm spirit Dylan got away—well, I don't know why he'd keep Hedge alive.**

"You mean he's going to die because he was protecting us," Piper said not as a question but more like a statement to herself. Everyone frowned at that satyr's had a risky job yet they still did it and risked their lives.

**Hedge was a protector, though. He knew the risks. Satyrs don't have mortal souls. He'll be reincarnated as a tree or a flower or something."**

**Piper tried to imagine Coach Hedge as a clump of very angry pansies. That made her feel even worse.**

Everyone burst out laughing as they tried imagining that.

**She gazed at the cabins below, and an uneasy feeling settled over her. Hedge had died to get her here safely. Her mom's cabin was down there somewhere, which meant she had brothers and sisters, more people she'd have to betray. Do what we tell you, the voice had said. Or the consequences will be painful. She tucked her hands under her arms, trying to stop them from shaking.**

"This voice is seriously starting to piss me off," Thalia said glaring at the book, and everyone agreed with her.

**"It'll be okay," Annabeth promised. "You have friends here. We've all been through a lot of weird stuff. We know what you're going through."**

**I doubt that, Piper thought.**

**"I've been kicked out of five different schools the past five years," she said. "My dad's running out of places to put me."**

"That's nothing Piper everyone one of us has at least been kicked out of 5 or more schools well except Nico." Connor said.

"what did you just say conner"Nico asked.

"NOthing, nothing at all" he was sturring at the death glare that Nico was giving him.(trust me it was scary)

Only five?" Annabeth didn't sound like she was teasing. "Piper, we've all been labeled troublemakers. I ran away from home when I was seven."

**"Seriously?"**

"Hmm you are calmer than Percy all he did was ask a billion questions," Annabeth said as Percy stuck his tongue out at her.

**"Oh, yeah. Most of us are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder or dyslexia, or both—"**

**"Leo's ADHD," Piper said.**

**"Right. It's because we're hardwired for battle. Restless, impulsive—we don't fit in with regular kids. You should hear how much trouble Percy—" Her face darkened.**

**"Anyway, demigods get a bad rep. How'd you get in trouble?"**

**Usually when someone asked that question, Piper started a fight, or changed the subject, or caused some kind of distraction. But for some reason she found herself telling the truth.**

**"I steal stuff," she said. "Well, not really steal …"**

"Um is that even possible?" Connor asked.

"Shouldn't you know?" Nico asked.

"You'd think, but no," Conner said.

**"Is your family poor?"**

**Piper laughed bitterly. "Not even. I did it … I don't know why. For attention, I guess. My dad never had time for me unless I got in trouble."**

**Annabeth nodded. "I can relate. But you said you didn't really steal? What do you mean?"**

"Ohhh Annabeth asked the same question does that mean I'm smarter than you now?." Connor said as Annabeth rolled her eyes and smacked his head.

**"Well … nobody ever believes me. The police, teachers—even the people I took stuff from: they're so embarrassed, they'll deny what happened. But the truth is, I don't steal anything. I just ask people for things. And they give me stuff.**

"Seriously! That's so awesome whenever I talk to people they never give me stuff I have to use my awesome spy powers." Travis exclaimed.

"And that explains why you mostly get caught, you have no spy powers," Thalia added.

"We do to and your just jealous Thalia,"Connor said.

**Even a BMW convertible. I just asked. And the dealer said, 'Sure. Take it.' Later, he realized what he'd done, I guess. Then the police came after me."**

**Piper waited. She was used to people calling her a liar, but when she looked up, Annabeth just nodded.**

**"Interesting. If your dad were the god, I'd say you're a child of Hermes, god of thieves. He can be pretty convincing. But your dad is mortal…"**

"I think it would be fun to have you as a sister," Travis said to Piper who nodded.

"But shes not Tough luck "Nico said.

"How do you know"Travis asked.

"were you even listning Travis her father has been kidnapped"Katie said.

"HER FATHER"katie said.

"No need to yell im sitting right by you"

**Annabeth shook her head, apparently mystified. "I don't know, then. With luck, your mom will claim you tonight."**

**Piper almost hoped it wouldn't happen. If her mom were a goddess, would she know about that dream? Would she know what Piper had been asked to do? Piper wondered if Olympian gods ever blasted their kids with lightning for being evil, or grounded them in the Underworld.**

"Actually they do ground you in the underworld," Nico muttered, "But I don't think your mom-whoever she is- would do that."

Annabeth sighed and said," I told you Nico if you hadn't failed Greek mythology I bet Hads wouldnt have grounded you."

**Annabeth was studying her. Piper decided she was going to have to be careful what she said from now on. Annabeth was obviously pretty smart. If anyone could figure out Piper's secret …**

"You catch on fast Piper, if you have any questions then go to Annabeth or another child of Athena," Thalia said to Piper.

"Minvera children are very good at reading people," Jason said agreeing with Thalia.

**"Come on," Annabeth said at last. "There's something else I need to check."**

**They hiked a little farther until they reached a cave near the top of the hill. Bones and old swords littered the ground. Torches flanked the entrance, which was covered in a velvet curtain embroidered with snakes. It looked like the set for some kind of twisted puppet show.**

"Hey my cave"Rachel said.

"You Live in a cave" Octavian asked.

But he didnt get an answers so he just kept reading.

What's in there?" Piper asked.

**Annabeth poked her head inside, then sighed and closed the curtains. "Nothing, right now. A friend's place. I've been expecting her for a few days, but so far, nothing."**

**"Your friend lives in a cave?"**

Everyone laughed at that because it did sound funny when she put it that way.

**Annabeth almost managed a smile. "Actually, her family has a luxury condo in Queens, and she goes to a finishing school in Connecticut. But when she's here at camp, yeah, she lives in the cave.**

"You know that quetion ,I asked you earlier YOu can just forget it"Octavian said

"Thats what I thought quetion guy"Rachel said.

"Quetion Quy?"

"I didnt have anything eles" Rachel responded.

Everybody just started cracking up.

"Yep and I'm pretty sure she likes the cave better." Thalia said.

"You got that right sister"

**She's our oracle, tells the future. I was hoping she could help me—"**

**"Find Percy," Piper guessed.**

"Of course ill help Annabeth"Rachel said.

"thank you" Annabeht respnded.

**All the energy drained out of Annabeth, like she'd been holding it together for as long as she could. She sat down on a rock, and her expression was so full of pain, Piper felt like a voyeur.**

**She forced herself to look away. Her eyes drifted to the crest of the hill, where a single pine tree dominated the skyline. Something glittered in its lowest branch—like a fuzzy gold bath mat.**

Everyone laughed again some of the tension leaving the room.

**No … not a bath mat. It was a sheep's fleece.**

**Okay, Piper thought. Greek camp. They've got a replica of the Golden Fleece.**

"Do you really think we'd have a replica? Nope it's the real thing," Thalia said smiling.

**Then she noticed the base of the tree. At first she thought it was wrapped in a pile of massive purple cables. But the cables had reptilian scales, clawed feet, and a snakelike head with yellow eyes and smoking nostrils.**

**"That's—a dragon," she stammered. "That's the actual Golden Fleece?"**

**Annabeth nodded, but it was clear she wasn't really listening. Her shoulders drooped.**

**She rubbed her face and took a shaky breath. "Sorry. A little tired."**

**"You look ready to drop," Piper said. "How long have been searching for your boyfriend?"**

**"Three days, six hours, and about twelve minutes."**

"Annabeth have you even slept?" Percy asked worrying about his girlfriend. Annabeth just shrugged she didn't know what her book self was doing.

**"And you've got no idea what happened to him?"**

**Annabeth shook her head miserably. "We were so excited because we both started winter break early. We met up at camp on Tuesday, figured we had three weeks together. It was going to be great. Then after the campfire, he—he kissed me good night, went back to his cabin, and in the morning, he was gone.**

**We searched the whole camp. We contacted his mom.**

"Oh yea mom is going to be so worried," Percy said thinking of his mom.

**We've tried to reach him every way we know how. Nothing. He just disappeared."**

**Piper was thinking: Three days ago. The same night she'd had her dream.**

Annabeth brain started working at the same time both of them thinking that this couldn't be a coincidence.

**"How long were you guys together?"**

**"Since August," Annabeth said. "August eighteenth."**

**"Almost exactly when I met Jason," Piper said. "But we've only been together a few weeks."**

All thw oman in the room knew what was coming and looked at Piper with sympathy.

**Annabeth winced. "Piper … about that. Maybe you should sit down."**

**Piper knew where this was going. Panic started building inside her, like her lungs were filling with water. "Look, I know Jason thought—he thought he just appeared at our school today. But that's not true. I've known him for four months."**

**"Piper," Annabeth said sadly. "It's the Mist."**

**"Missed … what?"**

**"M-i-s-t. It's a kind of veil separating the mortal world from the magic world. Mortal minds—they can't process strange stuff like gods and monsters, so the Mist bends reality. It makes mortals see things in a way they can understand —like their eyes might just skip over this valley completely, or they might look at that dragon and see a pile of cables."**

"The mist may suck sometimes, but it does come in handy," Thalia said.

**Piper swallowed. "No. You said yourself I'm not a regular mortal. I'm a demigod."**

**"Even demigods can be affected. I've seen it lots of times. Monsters infiltrate some place like a school, pass themselves off as human, and everyone thinks they remember that person. They believe he's always been around. The Mist can change memories, even create memories of things that never happened—"**

**"But Jason's not a monster!" Piper insisted. "He's a human guy, or demigod, or whatever you want to call him. My memories aren't fake. They're so real. The time we set Coach Hedge's pants on fire. The time Jason and I watched a meteor shower on the dorm roof and I finally got the stupid guy to kiss me..."**

"I cant beleive you worked that hard for a guy" Leo said.

Piper just punched Leo and he was knocked out.

Jason and Reyna and everybody in the room just looked at her and took a remider to not get on her bad-side.

**She found herself rambling, telling Annabeth about her whole semester at Wilderness School. She'd liked Jason from the first week they'd met. He was so nice to her, and so patient, he could even put up with hyperactive Leo and his stupid jokes. He'd accepted her for herself and didn't judge her because of the stupid things she'd done. They'd spent hours talking, looking at the stars, and eventually— finally —holding hands. All that couldn't be fake.**

**Annabeth pursed her lips. "Piper, your memories are a lot sharper than most. I'll admit that, and I don't know why that is. But if you know him so well—"**

**"I do!"**

**"Then where is he from?"**

**Piper felt like she'd been hit between the eyes. "He must have told me, but—"**

**"Did you ever notice his tattoo before today? Did he ever tell you anything about his parents, or his friends, or his last school?"**

**"I—I don't know, but—"**

**"Piper, what's his last name?"**

"Grace," Jason said.

Thalia didn't say anything at first, but she knew that her friend wasn't going to let this go. "I know his last name..."

"You know your last name, but something tells me Piper doesn't, " Thalia replied.

**Her mind went blank. She didn't know Jason's last name. How could that be?**

**She started to cry. She felt like a total fool, but she sat down on the rock next to Annabeth and just fell to pieces. It was too much. Did everything that was good in her stupid, miserable life have to be taken away?**

**Yes, the dream had told her. Yes, unless you do exactly what we say.**

Leo finally woke he was in heaven because when he woke up reyna was just there looking at him with a worried face and a damp wash-cloth.

"Thank You "Leo.

"No Prob"Reyna.

He just kissed her on the cheek and she didnt pull felt accomplished.1 girl that is out of his leaugue acutually likes was just plushing the whole time and was speechless.

"Awwwww"Piper said.

Everybody just looked at her like she just ate Conners Shoe.

"I do not know what came over me it just a feeling"Piper said.

Everybody just Jason he just took her he didnt blush only Piper did and she didnt even pull was also feeling like Leo but he didnt kiss her.

**"Hey," Annabeth said. "We'll figure it out. Jason's here now. Who knows? Maybe it'll work out with you guys for real."**

**Not likely, Piper thought. Not if the dream had told her the truth. But she couldn't say that.**

**She brushed a tear from her cheek. "You brought me up here so no one would see me blubbering, huh?"**

**Annabeth shrugged. "I figured it would be hard for you. I know what it's like to lose your boyfriend**

**show up today, then why? How'd he get there? Why can't he remember anything?"**

**"Good questions," Annabeth said. "Hopefully Chiron can figure that out. But for now, we need to get you settled. You ready to go back down?"**

**Piper gazed at the crazy assortment of cabins in the valley. Her new home, a family who supposedly understood her—but soon they'd be just another bunch of people she'd disappointed, just another place she'd been kicked out of. You'll betray them for us, the voice had warned. Or you'll lose everything.**

**She didn't have a choice.**

"There's always a choice although both maybe hard you still have a choice." Annabeth said gravely.

**"Yeah," she lied. "I'm ready."**

**On the central green, a group of campers was playing basketball. They were incredible shots. Nothing bounced off the rim. Three-pointers went in automatically.**

**"Apollo's cabin," Annabeth explained. "Bunch of showoffs with missile weapons—arrows, basketballs."**

**They walked past a central fire pit, where two guys were hacking at each other with swords.**

**"Real blades?" Piper noted. "Isn't that dangerous?"**

**"That's sort of the point," Annabeth said. "Uh, sorry. Bad pun. That's my cabin over there. Number Six." She nodded to a gray building with a carved owl over the door.**

**Through the open doorway, Piper could see bookshelves, weapon displays, and one of those computerized SMART Boards they have in classrooms. Two girls were drawing a map that looked like a battle diagram.**

**"Speaking of blades," Annabeth said, "come here."**

**She led Piper around the side of the cabin, to a big metal shed that looked like it was meant for gardening tools. Annabeth unlocked it, and inside were not gardening tools, unless you wanted to make war on your tomato plants.**

"I think I might just try that," Connor said thoughtfully and Katie glared at him.

"If you dare hurt any plants I am going to burn you alive," Kaite said to him. Conner visibly gulped and nodded his head.

**The shed was lined with all sorts of weapons—from swords to spears to clubs like Coach Hedge's.**

**"Every demigod needs a weapon," Annabeth said. "Hephaestus makes the best, but we have a pretty good selection, too. Athena's all about strategy—matching the right weapon to the right person. Let's see …"**

**Piper didn't feel much like shopping for deadly objects, but she knew Annabeth was trying to do something nice for her.**

**Annabeth handed her a massive sword, which Piper could hardly lift.**

**"No," they both said at once.**

**Annabeth rummaged a little farther in the shed and brought out something else.**

**"A shotgun?" Piper asked.**

"That won't be the best weapon for her," Frank who had been not intrested for this whole book spoke up when weapons were being mentioned.

**"Mossberg 500." Annabeth checked the pump action like it was no big deal. "Don't worry. It doesn't hurt humans. It's modified to shoot Celestial bronze, so it only kills monsters."**

**"Um, I don't think that's my style," Piper said.**

**"Mmm, yeah," Annabeth agreed. "Too flashy."**

**She put the shotgun back and started poking through a rack of crossbows when something in the corner of the shed caught Piper's eye.**

**"What is that?" she said. "A knife?"**

**Annabeth dug it out and blew the dust off the scabbard. It looked like it hadn't seen the light of day in centuries.**

**"I don't know, Piper." Annabeth sounded uneasy. "I don't think you want this one. Swords are usually better."**

"No way that knife sounds like it's perfect for her," Frank said, "She could probably chop a lot of heads off with it," he said grinning like a maniac.

People who were near him just schooched away"

**"You use a knife." Piper pointed to the one strapped to Annabeth's belt.**

**"Yeah, but …" Annabeth shrugged. "Well, take a look if you want."**

**The sheath was worn black leather, bound in bronze. Nothing fancy, nothing flashy. The polished wood handle fit beautifully in Piper's hand.**

**When she unsheathed it, she found a triangular blade eighteen inches long—bronze gleaming like it had been polished yesterday. The edges were deadly sharp. Her reflection in the blade caught her by surprise. She looked older, more serious, not as scared as she felt.**

Annabeth frowned figuring out which blade was being talked about.

**"It suits you," Annabeth admitted. "That kind of blade is called a parazonium. It was mostly ceremonial, carried by high-ranking officers in the Greek armies. It showed you were a person of power and wealth, but in a fight, it could protect you just fine."**

"It sounds like something Aphrodite would use." Travis said.

"Yea," Annabeth said absentmindedly as she started thinking and finally she smiled, she figured out who Piper's godly parent was.

Percy knew that look but didnt point it out.

**"I like it," Piper said. "Why didn't you think it was right?"**

**Annabeth exhaled. "That blade has a long story. Most people would be afraid to claim it. Its first owner … well, things didn't turn out too well for her. Her name was Helen."**

**Piper let that sink in. "Wait, you mean **_**the**_ **Helen? Helen of Troy?"**

**Annabeth nodded.**

**Suddenly Piper felt like she should be handling the dagger with surgical gloves. "And it's just sitting in your toolshed?"**

**"We're surrounded by Ancient Greek stuff," Annabeth said. "This isn't a museum. Weapons like that—they're meant to be used. They're our heritage as demigods. That was a wedding present from Menelaus, Helen's first husband. She named the dagger Katoptris."**

**"Meaning?"**

**"Mirror," Annabeth said. "Looking glass. Probably because that's the only thing Helen used it for. I don't think it's ever seen battle."**

**Piper looked at the blade again. For a moment, her own image stared up at her, but then the reflection changed. She saw flames, and a grotesque face like something carved from bedrock. She heard the same laughter as in her dream. She saw her dad in chains, tied to a post in front of a roaring bonfire.**

Piper was scared, scared and angry she was going to kill whoever took her father.

**She dropped the blade.**

**"Piper?" Annabeth shouted to the Apollo kids on the court, "Medic! I need some help over here!"**

**"No, it's—it's okay," Piper managed.**

**"You sure?"**

**"Yeah. I just …" She had to control herself. With trembling fingers, she picked up the dagger. "I just got overwhelmed. So much happening today. But … I want to keep the dagger, if that's okay."**

**Annabeth hesitated. Then she waved off the Apollo kids. "Okay, if you're sure. You turned really pale, there. I thought you were having a seizure or something."**

**"I'm fine," Piper promised, though her heart was still racing. "Is there … um, a phone at camp? Can I call my dad?"**

"Uh Piper not to be rude, but isn't your dad kind of tied up?" Nico asked hesitantly. Piper didn't know what her book self was doing.

**Annabeth's gray eyes were almost as unnerving as the dagger blade. She seemed to be calculating a million possibilities, trying to read Piper's thoughts.**

"Unfortunately I can't read people's thoughts," Annabeth mumbled, "that would make things a lot easier." She concluded.

**"We aren't allowed phones," she said. "Most demigods, if they use a cell phone, it's like sending up a signal, letting monsters know where you are. But … I've got one." She slipped it out of her pocket. "Kind of against the rules, but if it can be our secret …"**

"Well well Annabeth looks like your secret's out, " Travis said.

**Piper took it gratefully, trying not to let her hands shake. She stepped away from Annabeth and turned to face the commons area.**

**She called her dad's private line, even though she knew what would happen. Voice mail. She'd been trying for three days, ever since the dream. Wilderness School only allowed phone privileges once a day, but she'd called every evening, and gotten nowhere.**

"I'm hoping it's not real," Piper said sighing.

**Reluctantly she dialed the other number. Her dad's personal assistant answered immediately. "Mr. McLean's office."**

**"Jane," Piper said, gritting her teeth. "Where's my dad?"**

**Jane was silent for a moment, probably wondering if she could get away with hanging up.**

"This Jane sounds like trouble." Thalia said grumbling.

"She is, but I've put up with her," Piper replied.

**"Piper, I thought you weren't supposed to call from school."**

**"Maybe I'm not at school," Piper said. "Maybe I ran away to live among the woodland creatures."**

"Are you insulting us?" Conner said huffing.

**"Mmm." Jane didn't sound concerned. "Well, I'll tell him you called."**

**"Where is he?"**

**"Out."**

**"You don't know, do you?" Piper lowered her voice, hoping Annabeth was too nice to eavesdrop.**

"I would give you space, but I might be a bit too curious," Annabeth said apologetically.

**"When are you going to call the police, Jane? He could be in trouble."**

**"Piper, we are not going to turn this into a media circus. I'm sure he's fine. He does take off occasionally. He always comes back."**

**"So it's true. You don't know—"**

**"I have to go, Piper," Jane snapped. "Enjoy school."**

**The line went dead.**

"Jeez what an unloving woman," Katie said.

**Piper cursed. She walked back to Annabeth and handed her the phone.**

**"No luck?" Annabeth asked.**

**Piper didn't answer. She didn't trust herself not to start crying again.**

**Annabeth glanced at the phone display and hesitated. "Your last name is McLean? Sorry, it's not my business. But that sounds really familiar."**

"Actually that name does sound familiar," Annabeth said. "Are you sure you don't want to tell us who he is?" she asked.

"Positive, although I think the book might say later on," Piper replied.

**"Common name."**

**"Yeah, I guess. What does your dad do?"**

**"He's got a degree in the arts," Piper said automatically. "He's a Cherokee artist."**

**Her standard response. Not a lie, just not the whole truth. Most people, when they heard that, figured her dad sold Indian souvenirs at a roadside stand on a reservation. Sitting Bull bobble-heads, wampum necklaces, Big Chief tablets—that kind of thing.**

Annabeth had a hinting suspicion of who her dad was.

**"Oh." Annabeth didn't look convinced, but she put the phone away.**

**"You feeling okay? Want to keep going?"**

**Piper fastened her new dagger to her belt and promised herself that later, when she was alone, she'd figure out how it worked. "Sure," she said. "I want to see everything."**

**All the cabins were cool, but none of them struck Piper as hers . No burning signs—wombats or otherwise—appeared over her head.**

**Cabin Eight was entirely silver and glowed like moonlight.**

"I guess i wont be staying in the cabin next year"

"but instead you will have me and i can kiss"

"really really Nico"Thalia asked.

" What else was i suppose to say"

"Maybe I might not quit the hunt"Thalia said.

The expression on Nico face was so funny every-body started cracking up.

"Just kidding Death-Breath"

"But you better take care of her"Jason said going into over-protective mode.

**"Artemis?" Piper guessed.**

**"You know Greek mythology," Annabeth said.**

**"I did some reading when my dad was working on a project last year."**

**"I thought he did Cherokee art."**

**Piper bit back a curse. "Oh, right. But—you know, he does other stuff too."**

**Piper thought she'd blown it: McLean, Greek mythology. Thankfully, Annabeth didn't seem to make the connection.**

The Annabeth in the present though did make the connection and she figured it out, but one look at Piper's face and she kept it to herself. This book had had her keeping a lot of things to herself, but everyone else will probably get to know later on she thought to herself.

**"Anyway," Annabeth continued, "Artemis is goddess of the moon, goddess of hunting. But no campers. Artemis was an eternal maiden, so she doesn't have any kids."**

**"Oh." That kind of bummed Piper out. She'd always liked the stories of Artemis, and figured she would make a cool mom.**

"she does make a cool mom"thalia said.

Well, there are the Hunters of Artemis," Annabeth amended. "They visit sometimes. They're not the children of Artemis, but they're her handmaidens—

**this band of immortal teenage girls who adventure together and hunt monsters and stuff."**

**Piper perked up. "That sounds cool. They get to be immortal?"**

**"Unless they die in combat, or break their vows. Did I mention they have to swear off boys? No dating—ever. For eternity."**

"Never mind"Piper resonded.

everybody cracked up except Piper and wasnt laughing because he was turing RED by all the teasing .

Oh," Piper said. "Never mind."

**Annabeth laughed. For a moment she looked almost happy, and Piper thought she'd be a cool friend to hang out with in better times.**

"I think you would be a cook friend to have," Piper said to Annabeth who smiled.

**Forget it, Piper reminded herself. You're not going to make any friends here. Not once they find out.**

**They passed the next cabin, Number Ten, which was decorated like a Barbie house with lace curtains, a pink door, and potted carnations in the windows. They walked by the doorway, and the smell of perfume almost made Piper gag.**

**Gah, is that where supermodels go to die?"**

**Annabeth smirked. "Aphrodite's cabin. Goddess of love. Drew is the head counselor."**

**"Figures," Piper grumbled.**

**"They're not all bad," Annabeth said. "The last head counselor we had was great."**

Everyone-except Piper, Leo, and Jason- looked down sadly remembering Silena.

**"What happened to her?"**

**Annabeth's expression darkened. "We should keep moving."**

**They looked at the other cabins, but Piper just got more depressed. She wondered if she could be the daughter of Demeter, the farming goddess. Then again, Piper killed every plant she ever touched. Athena was cool. Or maybe Hecate, the magic goddess.**

**But it didn't really matter. Even here, where everyone was supposed to find a lost parent, she knew she would still end up the unwanted kid. She was not looking forward to the campfire tonight.**

**"We started with the twelve Olympian gods," Annabeth explained. "Male gods on the left, female on the right. Then last year, we added a whole bunch of new cabins for the other gods who didn't have thrones on Olympus—Hecate, Hades, Iris—"**

**"What are the two big ones on the end?" Piper asked.**

**Annabeth frowned. "Zeus and Hera. King and queen of the gods."**

**Piper headed that way, and Annabeth followed, though she didn't act very excited. The Zeus cabin reminded Piper of a bank.**

**It was white marble with big columns out front and polished bronze doors emblazoned with lightning bolts.**

**Hera's cabin was smaller but done in the same style, except the doors were carved with peacock feather designs, shimmering in different colors.**

**Unlike the other cabins, which were all noisy and open and full of activity, the Zeus and Hera cabins looked closed and silent.**

**"Are they empty?" Piper asked.**

**Annabeth nodded. "Zeus went a long time without having any children. Well, mostly.**

"But obviously he just couldn't help himself," Travis said smirking at Thalia and Jason.

Both Jason and thalia were glaring at him

**Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, the eldest brothers among the gods—they're called the Big Three. Their kids are really powerful, really dangerous. For the last seventy years or so, they tried to avoid having demigod children."**

**"Tried to avoid it?"**

**"Sometimes they … um, cheated. I've got a friend, Thalia Grace, who's the daughter of Zeus. But she gave up camp life and became a Hunter of Artemis. My boyfriend, Percy, he's a son of Poseidon. And there's a kid who shows up sometimes, Nico—son of Hades.**

**Except for them, there are no demigod children of the Big Three gods. At least, not that we know of."**

"You forgot about me," Jason said.

"My book self doesn't know you." Annabeth replied to him.

**"And Hera?" Piper looked at the peacock-decorated doors. The cabin bothered her, though she wasn't sure why.**

**"Goddess of marriage." Annabeth's tone was carefully controlled, like she was trying to avoid cursing. "She doesn't have kids with anyone but Zeus. So, yeah, no demigods. The cabin's just honorary."**

**"You don't like her," Piper noticed.**

**We have a long history," Annabeth admitted. "I thought we'd made peace, but when Percy disappeared … I got this weird dream vision from her."**

"You sent the vision," Annabeth said shock written on her whole face.

"Does this mean you did something to my son?" Poseidon questioned Hera who shrugged in response to his question.

**"Telling you to come get us," Piper said. "But you thought Percy would be there."**

**"It's probably better I don't talk about it," Annabeth said. "I've got nothing good to say about Hera right now."**

**Piper looked down the base of the doors. "So who goes in here?"**

**"No one. The cabin is just honorary, like I said. No one goes in."**

**"Someone does." Piper pointed at a footprint on the dusty threshold. On instinct, she pushed the doors and they swung open easily.**

**Annabeth stepped back. "Um, Piper, I don't think we should—"**

**"We're supposed to do dangerous stuff, right?" And Piper walked inside.**

"That's my new excuse for when I do things I'm not supposed to," Connor said laughing.

**Hera's cabin was not someplace Piper would want to live. It was as cold as a freezer, with a circle of white columns around a central statue of the goddess, ten feet tall, seated on a throne in flowing golden robes. Piper had always thought of Greek statues as white with blank eyes, but this one was brightly painted so it looked almost human—except huge. Hera's piercing eyes seemed to follow Piper.**

**At the goddess's feet, a fire burned in a bronze brazier. Piper wondered who tended it if the cabin was always empty.**

Everyone looked at the fire and saw Hestia and smiling.

**A stone hawk sat on Hera's shoulder, and in her hand was a staff topped with a lotus flower. The goddess's hair was done in black plaits. Her face smiled, but the eyes were cold and calculating, as if she were saying: Mother knows best. Now don't cross me or I will have to step on you.**

**There was nothing else in the cabin—no beds, no furniture, no bathroom, no windows, nothing that anyone could actually use to live. For a goddess of home and marriage, Hera's place reminded Piper of a tomb.**

**No, this wasn't her mom. At least Piper was sure of that . She hadn't come in here because she felt a good connection,**

**but because her sense of dread was stronger here. Her dream—that horrible ultimatum she'd been handed—had something to do with this cabin.**

**She froze. They weren't alone. Behind the statue, at a little altar in the back, stood a figure covered in a black shawl. Only her hands were visible, palms up. She seemed to be chanting something like a spell or a prayer.**

**Annabeth gasped. "Rachel?"**

"What is Rachel doing there?" asked Percy as everyone wondered the same thing.

**The other girl turned. She dropped her shawl, revealing a mane of curly red hair and a freckled face that didn't go with the seriousness of the cabin or the black shawl at all.**

**She looked about seventeen, a totally normal teen in a green blouse and tattered jeans covered with marker doodles. Despite the cold floor, she was barefoot.**

**"Hey!" She ran to give Annabeth a hug. "I'm so sorry! I came as fast as I could."**

**They talked for a few minutes about Annabeth's boyfriend and how there was no news, et cetera, until finally Annabeth remembered Piper, who was standing there feeling uncomfortable.**

**"I'm being rude," Annabeth apologized. "Rachel, this is Piper, one of the half-bloods we rescued today. Piper, this is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, our oracle."**

**"The friend who lives in the cave," Piper guessed.**

**Rachel grinned. "That's me."**

"Told you she loves that cave," Thalia said chuckling.

**"So you're an oracle?" Piper asked. "You can tell the future?"**

**"More like the future mugs me from time to time," Rachel said. "I speak prophecies. The oracle's spirit kind of hijacks me every once in a while and speaks important stuff that doesn't make any sense to anybody. But yeah, the prophecies tell the future."**

**"Oh." Piper shifted from foot to foot. "That's cool."**

**Rachel laughed. "Don't worry. Everybody finds it a little creepy. Even me. But usually I'm harmless."**

**"You're a demigod?"**

**"Nope," Rachel said. "Just mortal."**

**"Then what are you …" Piper waved her hand around the room.**

**Rachel's smile faded. She glanced at Annabeth, then back at Piper. "Just a hunch. Something about this cabin and Percy's disappearance. They're connected somehow.**

Oh hera's going to die Annabeth thought.

**I've learned to follow my hunches, especially the last month, since the gods went silent."**

"What?" everyone said.

"Why would you go silent?" Travis silent?" Piper asked.

**Rachel frowned at Annabeth. "You haven't told her yet?"**

**"I was getting to that," Annabeth said. "Piper, for the last month … well, it's normal for the gods not to talk to their children very much, but usually we can count on some messages now and then. Some of us can even visit Olympus. I spent practically all semester at the Empire State Building."**

**"Excuse me?"**

**"The entrance to Mount Olympus these days."**

**"Oh," Piper said. "Sure, why not?"**

**"Annabeth was redesigning Olympus after it was damaged in the Titan War," Rachel explained. "She's an amazing architect. You should see the salad bar—"**

"Cool" Everybody said that didnt know Annabeht.

**"Anyway," Annabeth said, "starting about a month ago, Olympus fell silent. The entrance closed, and no one could get in. Nobody knows why. It's like the gods have sealed themselves off. Even my mom won't answer my prayers, and our camp director, Dionysus, was recalled."**

"Holy shit!" Nico yelled in excitement.

"YES"Percy yelled.

"if hes gone then that means somting really bad is going on"

"Booo, so not fair"percy said.

Your camp director was the god of … wine?"

**"Yeah, it's a—"**

**"Long story," Piper guessed. "Right. Go on."**

**"That's it, really," Annabeth said. "Demigods still get claimed, but nothing else. No messages. No visits. No sign the gods are even listening. It's like something has happened —something really bad. Then Percy disappeared."**

**"And Jason showed up on our field trip," Piper supplied. "With no memory."**

"It's official everything going on is connected," Annabeth said.

**"Who's Jason?" Rachel asked.**

**"My—" Piper stopped herself before she could say "boyfriend," but the effort made her chest hurt. "My friend. But Annabeth, you said Hera sent you a dream vision."**

**"Right," Annabeth said. "The first communication from a god in a month, and it's Hera, the least helpful goddess, and she contacts me, her least favorite demigod. She tells me I'll find out what happened to Percy if I go to the Grand Canyon skywalk and look for a guy with one shoe. Instead, I find you guys, and the guy with one shoe is Jason. It doesn't make sense."**

Everyone was thinking the same thing, whatever was going on was big and it was going to get worse.

**"Something bad is happening," Rachel agreed. She looked at Piper, and Piper felt an overwhelming desire to tell them about her dream, to confess that she knew what was happening—at least part of the story. And the bad stuff was only beginning.**

**"Guys," she said. "I—I need to—"**

**Before she could continue, Rachel's body stiffened. Her eyes began to glow with a greenish light, and she grabbed Piper by the shoulders.**

"I think Rachel just freaked Piper out," Nico said.

**Piper tried to back away, but Rachel's hands were like steel clamps.**

_**Free me**_**, she said. But it wasn't Rachel's voice. It sounded like an older woman, speaking from somewhere far away, down a long, echoing pipe. **_**Free me, Piper McLean, or the earth shall swallow us. It must be by the solstice.**_

Annabeth frowned, "It's not a prophecy, someone's communicating through her."

"But the question is who?" Piper asked, but no one had an answer.

**The room started spinning. Annabeth tried to separate Piper from Rachel, but it was no use. Green smoke enveloped them, and Piper was no longer sure if she was awake or dreaming. The giant statue of the goddess seemed to rise from its throne. It leaned over Piper, its eyes boring into her. The statue's mouth opened, its breath like horribly thick perfume. It spoke in the same echoing voice: **_**Our enemies stir. The fiery one is only the first. Bow to his will, and their king shall rise, dooming us all. FREE ME!**_

**Piper's knees buckled, and everything went black.**

"Its ok Piper everything will be alright"Jason said and hugged herr.

She hugged felt happy she was hugging the cutes guy.


	6. Leo V

**Chapter Five**

**Leo V**

"**Leo V,"** Jason read, "This should be interesting."

"You bet I'm just a naturally interesting person," replied Leo smiling, although his comment made all the females to roll their eyes at him.

**LEO'S TOUR WAS GOING GREAT UNTIL he learned about the dragon.**

"What dragon?" Nico asked frowning.

"He means Festus, Jake has been trying to catch him but it's not working." Annabeth said. "Only Beckendorf knew how to control it." She said looking down looked down sadly all those who knew Becandorf.

**The archer dude, Will Solace, seemed pretty cool. Everything he showed Leo was so amazing, it should've been illegal. Real Greek warships moored at the beach that sometimes had practice fights with flaming arrows and explosives? Sweet! Arts & crafts sessions where you could make sculptures with chain saws and blowtorches? Leo was like, Sign me up! The woods were stocked with dangerous monsters, and no one should ever go in there alone? Nice! And the camp was overflowing with fine-looking girls. Leo didn't quite understand the whole related-to-the-gods business, but he hoped that didn't mean he was cousins with all these ladies. That would suck. At the very least, he wanted to check out those underwater girls in the lake again. They were definitely worth drowning for.**

Everyone burst out laughing as soon as Jason finished the paragraph. Leo was laughing at himself also, but he was also slightly blushing.

"I hope the next chapter is in your point of view," Travis said to Leo. Piper and Jason agreed with him also. Even though they didn't say it aloud they really didn't want people to read about what they're thinking.

"Are you really that much of a player?"Reyna asked.

"Noo"Leo said.

"If I have found the right lady then No"He wiggled his eyebrows at Reyna and she just blushed.

"So that means your single now"Hazel asked.

"Yes, Yes I am"Leo responded and winked.

Somehow Frank didnt know anybody but he got jealous so he took Hazel hand without even knowing blushed and wispered.

"why are you holding my hand"

"Ohh I just wanted some ones hand to hold"Frank replied but he was blushing.

**Will showed him the cabins, the dining pavilion, and the sword arena.**

**"Do I get a sword?" Leo asked.**

**Will glanced at him like he found the idea disturbing.**

So did everyone else in the room.

"What's with the look?" Leo asked innocently," I think I'd be pretty awesome with a sword, not that I could be awesomer." He finished with a smirk.

You'll probably make your own, seeing as how you're in Cabin Nine."

**"Yeah, what's up with that? Vulcan?"**

**"Usually we don't call the gods by their Roman names," Will said. "The original names are Greek. Your dad is Hephaestus."**

**"Festus?" Leo had heard somebody say that before, but he was still dismayed. "Sounds like the god of cowboys."**

Several people were laughing at this.

**" He- phaestus," Will corrected. "God of blacksmiths and fire."**

**Leo had heard that too, but he was trying not to think about it. The god of fire … seriously? Considering what had happened to his mom, that seemed like a sick joke.**

"What happened"Percy asked.

But Leo just stayed quiet.

**"So the flaming hammer over my head," Leo said. "Good thing, or bad thing?"**

**Will took a while to answer. "You were claimed almost immediately. That's usually good."**

**"But that Rainbow Pony dude, Butch—he mentioned a curse."**

**Ah … look, it's nothing. Since Cabin Nine's last head counselor died—"**

Everyone, who knew Beckendorf, looked down sadly as they remembered him. Percy was the saddest, because having been there, he saw it happen.

**"Died? Like, painfully?"**

**"I ought to let your bunkmates tell you about it."**

**"Yeah, where are my home dawgs? Shouldn't their counselor be giving me the VIP tour?"**

**"He, um, can't. You'll see why." Will forged ahead before Leo could ask anything else.**

**"Curses and death," Leo said to himself. "This just gets better and better."**

**He was halfway across the green when he spotted his old babysitter.**

"What the f-" Nico started, but was interrupted by Thalia.

"Fudge," Thalia substituted shaking her head at Nico. While that was going on Leo began to think of his old babysitter, and he figured out who his book self was talking about. _Why would she be at Camp Half-Blood?_ He asked himself.

**And she was not the kind of person he expected to see at a demigod camp.**

**Leo froze in his tracks.**

**"What's wrong?" Will asked.**

**Tía Callida— Auntie Callida. That's what she'd called herself, but Leo hadn't seen her since he was five years old. She was just standing there, in the shadow of a big white cabin at the end of the green, watching him. She wore her black linen widow's dress, with a black shawl pulled over her hair. Her face hadn't changed—leathery skin, piercing dark eyes. Her withered hands were like claws. She looked ancient, but no different than Leo remembered.**

Leo shuddered at the description; she looked exactly the same as she did all those years before.

**"That old lady …" Leo said. "What's she doing here?"**

**Will tried to follow his gaze. "What old lady?"**

**"Dude, the old lady. The one in black. How many old ladies do you see over there?"**

**Will frowned. "I think you've had a long day, Leo. The Mist could still be playing tricks on your mind. How about we head straight to your cabin now?"**

**Leo wanted to protest, but when he looked back toward the big white cabin, Tía Callida was gone. He was sure she'd been there, almost as if thinking about his mom had summoned Callida back from the past.**

**And that wasn't good, because Tía Callida had tried to kill him.**

"Well, something tells me she wasn't doing her job very well," Travis said trying to lighten the mood, and it worked, everyone either laughed or at least cracked a smile.

"I bet you 50 gold damachies it Hera"Travis said to Katie.

"Fine but it's not what would hera be doing at the camp"Katie said.

"reamber i never lose a bet Katy Kat"

"I feel like we are repeating our selfs"

**"Just messing with you, man." Leo pulled some gears and levers from his pockets and started fiddling with them to calm his nerves. He couldn't have everybody at camp thinking he was crazy. At least, not crazier than he really was.**

**"Let's go see Cabin Nine," he said. "I'm in the mood for a good curse."**

**From the outside, the Hephaestus cabin looked like an oversize RV with shiny metal walls and metal-slatted windows. The entrance was like a bank vault door, circular and several feet thick. It opened with lots of brass gears turning and hydraulic pistons blowing smoke.**

"Worst thing to try and break into," Connor said frowning.

**Leo whistled. "They got a steampunk theme going on, huh?"**

**Inside, the cabin seemed deserted. Steel bunks were folded against the walls like hightech Murphy beds. Each had a digital control panel, blinking LED lights, glowing gems, and interlocking gears. Leo figured each camper had his own combination lock to release his bed, and there was probably an alcove behind it with storage, maybe some traps to keep out unwanted visitors.**

**At least, that's the way Leo would've designed it. A fire pole came down from the second floor, even though the cabin didn't appear to have a second floor from the outside. A circular staircase led down into some kind of basement. The walls were lined with every kind of power tool Leo could imagine, plus a huge assortment of knives, swords, and other implements of destruction. A large workbench overflowed with scrap metal—screws, bolts, washers, nails, rivets, and a million other machine parts. Leo had a strong urge to shovel them all into his coat pockets. He loved that kind of stuff. But he'd need a hundred more coats to fit it all.**

Leo had a dazed look on his face as he was in mechanic heaven.

Reyna just lauged at the expression on Leos face.

**Looking around, he could almost imagine he was back in his mom's machine shop. Not the weapons, maybe—but the tools, the piles of scrap, the smell of grease and metal and hot engines. She would've loved this place.**

**He pushed that thought away. He didn't like painful memories. Keep moving— that was his motto. Don't dwell on things. Don't stay in one place too long. It was the only way to stay ahead of the sadness.**

Again the air became sad, with the somewhat depressing thoughts.

**He picked a long implement from the wall. "A weed whacker? What's the god of fire want with a weed whacker?"**

**A voice in the shadows said, "You'd be surprised."**

**At the back of the room, one of the bunk beds was occupied. A curtain of dark camouflage material retracted, and Leo could see the guy who'd been invisible a second before. It was hard to tell much about him because he was covered in a body cast. His head was wrapped in gauze except for his face, which was puffy and bruised.**

**He looked like the Pillsbury Doughboy after a beat-down.**

People would have laughed at that comment if it weren't such a sad one at the same time.

**"I'm Jake Mason," the guy said. "I'd shake your hand, but …"**

**"Yeah," Leo said. "Don't get up."**

**The guy cracked a smile, then winced like it hurt to move his face. Leo wondered what had happened to him, but he was afraid to ask.**

"I'd wish you'd ask," Annabeth said, she really wanted to know what was going on.

**"Welcome to Cabin Nine," Jake said. "Been almost a year since we had any new kids. I'm head counselor for now."**

"Did he say for now?" Nico asked.

"Yea did you become deaf during that part," Thalia retorted.

"What does he mean by that?" Piper asked interrupting what was sure to be an argument. No one had an answer to her question so Jason continued reading.

**"For now?" Leo asked.**

**Will Solace cleared his throat. "So where is everybody, Jake?"**

**"Down at the forges," Jake said wistfully. "They're working on … you know, that problem."**

**"Oh." Will changed the subject. "So, you got a spare bed for Leo?"**

**Jake studied Leo, sizing him up. "You believe in curses, Leo? Or ghosts?"**

"Do you?" Travis said.

"Course not," Leo replied puffing out his chest. Nico smirked at him and proposed an idea.

"Really so how about after this book you come with me to the Underworld for a few hours." He said, and as soon as he finished his sentence Leo's face became pale as he weakly shook his head.

**I just saw my evil babysitter Tía Callida, Leo thought. She's got to be dead after all these years. And I can't go a day without remembering my mom in that machine shop fire. Don't talk to me about ghosts, doughboy.**

Nico suddenly felt guilty about what he said to Leo, but when he looked at Leo his eyes told him he didn't mind.

**But aloud, he said, "Ghosts? Pfft. Nah. I'm cool. A storm spirit chucked me down the Grand Canyon this morning, but you know, all in a day's work, right?"**

**Jake nodded. "That's good. Because I'll give you the best bed in the cabin—Beckendorf's."**

"It sounds like an honour," Leo said.

"It is," Percy said," they haven't let anyone have his bed."

**"Whoa, Jake," Will said. "You sure?"**

**Jake called out: "Bunk 1-A, please."**

**The whole cabin rumbled. A circular section of the floor spiraled open like a camera lens, and a full-size bed popped up. The bronze frame had a built-in game station at the footboard, a stereo system in the headboard, a glass-door refrigerator mounted into the base, and a whole bunch of control panels running down the side.**

Travis's mouth fell open at the description, now he really wished he could break into their cabin.

Katie knew that look and said "Sadly if you broke in there cabin you would be unconcious for 2 weeks"

**Leo jumped right in and lay back with arms behind his head. "I can handle this."**

**"It retracts into a private room below," Jake said.**

This time Travis sighed, until he thought of an idea on how to break in. _This is going to be fun_ he thought to himself.

**"Oh, heck, yes," Leo said. "See y'all. I'll be down in the Leo Cave. Which button do I press?"**

**"Hold on," Will Solace protested. "You guys have private underground rooms?"**

**Jake probably would've smiled if it didn't hurt so much. "We got lots of secrets, Will. You Apollo guys can't have all the fun. Our campers have been excavating the tunnel system under Cabin Nine for almost a century. We still haven't found the end.**

_Hmm that might help with my plan_ thought Travis as his brother locked eyes with him and knew what his older brother was planning.

**Anyway, Leo, if you don't mind sleeping in a dead man's bed, it's yours."**

**Suddenly Leo didn't feel like kicking back. He sat up, careful not to touch any of the buttons. "The counselor who died—this was his bed?"**

**"Yeah," Jake said. "Charles Beckendorf."**

**Leo imagined saw blades coming through the mattress, or maybe a grenade sewn inside the pillows. "He didn't, like, die in this bed, did he?"**

**"No," Jake said. "In the Titan War, last summer."**

**"The Titan War," Leo repeated, "which has nothing to do with this very fine bed?"**

The demigods gave a weak smile. But hearing about the Titan War was too sad and depressing.

**"The Titans," Will said, like Leo was an idiot. "The big powerful guys that ruled the world before the gods. They tried to make a comeback last summer. Their leader, Kronos, built a new palace on top of Mount Tam in California. Their armies came to New York and almost destroyed Mount Olympus. A lot of demigods died trying to stop them."**

Again everyone who knew some of the demigods who died bowed their heads as they remembered them.

I'm guessing this wasn't on the news?" Leo said.

"You'd think a giant war that could kill all of the gods would be on the news," Percy said.

"Only stupid people would think that," Thalia said to Percy.

**It seemed like a fair question, but Will shook his head in disbelief. "You didn't hear about Mount St. Helens erupting, or the freak storms across the country, or that building collapsing in St. Louis?"**

**Leo shrugged. Last summer, he'd been on the run from another foster home. Then a truancy officer caught him in New Mexico, and the court sentenced him to the nearest correctional facility—the Wilderness School. "Guess I was busy."**

**"Doesn't matter," Jake said. "You were lucky to miss it. The thing is, Beckendorf was one of the first casualties, and ever since then—"**

**"Your cabin's been cursed," Leo guessed.**

**Jake didn't answer. Then again, the dude was in a body cast. That was an answer.**

**Leo started noticing little things that he hadn't seen before—an explosion mark on the wall, a stain on the floor that might've been oil … or blood. Broken swords and smashed machines kicked into the corners of the room, maybe out of frustration. The place did feel unlucky.**

**Jake sighed halfheartedly. "Well, I should get some sleep. I hope you like it here, Leo. It used to be … really nice."**

**He closed his eyes, and the camouflage curtain drew itself across the bed.**

**"Come on, Leo," Will said. "I'll take you to the forges."**

**As they were leaving, Leo looked back at his new bed, and he could almost imagine a dead counselor sitting there—another ghost who wasn't going to leave Leo alone.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Jason said.

"You know gost are really not harm-ful and they acutally dont haunt you"Nico said.

"thanks for the info death breath"thalia replied while kissing Nico on the cheek.

Nico turned red,"I thought you were still in the hunt" "NIco asked

"Ohh I am"thalia said.

Nico looked really confused.

"I didnt touch your lips so im not actually kissing"

"Ohh"was nico seemed dissapointed he acutally want that to be an acual kiss.

"I kidding you know that was an actually kiss"said thalia.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

everybody just started lauging.

"I'll read next," Piper said, reaching for the book.


	7. Leo VI

**Chapter Six**

**Leo VI**

"**Leo VI," **Piper read.

**"HOW DID HE DIE?" LEO ASKED. "I mean Beckendorf."**

"You just had to ask that didn't you," Percy said sighing as a wave of guilt washed over him. Everyone else who knew Beckendorf looked sad.

**Will Solace trudged ahead. "Explosion. Beckendorf and Percy Jackson blew up a cruise ship full of monsters. Beckendorf didn't make it out."**

**There was that name again—Percy Jackson, Annabeth's missing boyfriend. That guy must've been into everything around here, Leo thought.**

"Come on people Percy's head will probably explode after all the compliments you're giving him," Connor said trying to lighten the depressing mood, and it worked everyone gave a him small smile.

Except Percys he just frowned.

So Beckendorf was pretty popular?" Leo asked. "I mean —before he blew up?"

"Looks like we got another Nico at camp," Travis said.

"I was not that bad," Nico said smiling.

"Yea you were worse," Thalia said laughing as Nico's smile turned into a frown.

"Nice to know how much my girlfriend supports me," Nico said drily

"You mean almost girlfriend"Thalia corrected.

"Yep,almost"Nico said dryly.

**"He was awesome," Will agreed. "It was hard on the whole camp when he died. Jake—he became head counselor in the middle of the war. Same as I did, actually. Jake did his best, but he never wanted to be leader. He just likes building stuff. Then after the war, things started to go wrong. Cabin Nine's chariots blew up. Their automatons went haywire. Their inventions started to malfunction.**

**It was like a curse, and eventually people started calling it that—the Curse of Cabin Nine. Then Jake had his accident—"**

**"Which had something to do with the problem he mentioned," Leo guessed.**

**"They're working on it," Will said without enthusiasm. "And here we are."**

**The forge looked like a steam-powered locomotive had smashed into the Greek Parthenon and they had fused together. White marble columns lined the soot-stained walls. Chimneys pumped smoke over an elaborate gable carved with a bunch of gods and monsters. The building sat at the edge of a stream, with several waterwheels turning a series of bronze gears. Leo heard machinery grinding inside, fires roaring, and hammers ringing on anvils.**

**They stepped through the doorway, and a dozen guys and girls who'd been working on various projects all froze. The noise died down to the roar of the forge and the clickclick- click of gears and levers.**

**"'Sup, guys," Will said. "This is your new brother, Leo—um, what's your last name?"**

**"Valdez." Leo looked around at the other campers. Was he really related to all of them?**

**His cousins came from some big families, but he'd always just had his mom—until she died.**

**Kids came up and started shaking hands and introducing themselves. Their names blurred together: Shane, Christopher, Nyssa, Harley (yeah, like the motorcycle). Leo knew he'd never keep everybody straight. Too many of them. Too overwhelming.**

**None of them looked like the others—all different face types, skin tone, hair color, height. You'd never think, Hey, look, it's the Hephaestus Bunch!**

"Actually there pretty easy to identify," Travis said.

"Yeah,thhey are pretty easy to define Bulk,Scary if you touch any of there thing"Conner replied.

"THanks for the info"Leo said.

**But they all had powerful hands, rough with calluses and stained with engine grease. Even little Harley, who couldn't have been more than eight, looked like he could go six rounds with Chuck Norris without breaking a sweat.**

**And all the kids shared a sad kind of seriousness. Their shoulders slumped like life had beaten them down pretty hard. Several looked like they'd been physically beaten up, too. Leo counted two arm slings, one pair of crutches, an eye patch, six Ace bandages, and about seven thousand Band-Aids.**

"Wow everybody is getting hurt"Rachel said.

"No Duhhh,why do you think"Nico asked.

Rachel just stoock her tongue out and leaned against Octavain more he just smiled.

**"Well, all right!" Leo said. "I hear this is the party cabin!"**

**Nobody laughed. They all just stared at him.**

"Looks like we have a new project to do," Travis said to Conner, they were going to get them to laugh, although that sounded like a stupid project it seemed like the Hephaestus kids could use some laughter.

**Will Solace patted Leo's shoulder. "I'll leave you guys to get acquainted. Somebody show Leo to dinner when it's time?"**

**"I got it," one of the girls said. Nyssa, Leo remembered. She wore camo pants, a tank top that showed off her buffarms, and a red bandanna over a mop of dark hair. Except for the smiley-face Band-Aid on her chin, she looked like one of those female action heroes, like any second she was going to grab a machine gun and start mowing down evil aliens.**

Everyone chuckled a little at that.

**"Cool," Leo said. "I always wanted a sister who could beat me up."**

"Me too," Connor said.

"You already have one like that. In fact most of you sisters beat you up frequently," Annabeth said to Conner, who started pouting as everyone else laughed at him.

**Nyssa didn't smile. "Come on, joker boy. I'll show you around."**

**Leo was no stranger to workshops. He'd grown up around grease monkeys and power tools. His mom used to joke that his first pacifier was a lug wrench. But he'd never seen any place like the camp forge.**

**One guy was working on a battle-ax. He kept testing the blade on a slab of concrete.**

**Each time he swung, the ax cut into the slab like it was warm cheese, but the guy looked unsatisfied and went back to honing the edge.**

"It seems like they're working themselves too hard," Percy said softly speaking for the first time.

**"What's he planning to kill with that thing?" Leo asked Nyssa. "A battleship?"**

**"You never know. Even with Celestial bronze—"**

**"That's the metal?"**

**She nodded. "Mined from Mount Olympus itself. Extremely rare. Anyway, it usually disintegrates monsters on contact, but big powerful ones have notoriously tough hides. Drakons, for instances—"**

**"You mean dragons?"**

**"Similar species. You'll learn the difference in monster-fighting class."**

"My advice Leo is skip the class," Travis said, "Trust me it's really boring." He finished.

"No he shouldn't skip it, not everyone wants to fail like you two," Annabeth said glaring at the two brothers, as Travis just shrugged in response.

**"Monster-fighting class. Yeah, I already got my black belt in that."**

**She didn't crack a smile. Leo hoped she wasn't this serious all the time. His dad's side of the family had to have some sense of humor, right?**

"They do, but looks like they're having some trouble finding it that's when we come in and save them," Connor said.

**They passed a couple of guys making a bronze windup toy. At least that's what it looked like. It was a six-inch-tall centaur—half man, half horse—armed with a miniature bow.**

**One of the campers cranked the centaur's tail, and it whirred to life. It galloped across the table, yelling, "Die, mosquito! Die, mosquito!" and shooting everything in sight.**

**Apparently this had happened before, because everybody knew to hit the floor except Leo. Six needle-sized arrows embedded themselves in his shirt before a camper grabbed a hammer and smashed the centaur to pieces.**

"Are their inventions always this…deadly?" Leo asked.

"Well we are being trained to kill monsters so we need deadly weapons, but this doesn't sound normal," Annebeth said.

**"Stupid curse!" The camper waved his hammer at the sky. "I just want a magic bug killer! Is that too much to ask?"**

**"Ouch," Leo said.**

**Nyssa pulled the needles out of his shirt. "Ah, you're fine. Let's move on before they rebuild it."**

**Leo rubbed his chest as they walked. "That sort of thing happen a lot?"**

**"Lately," Nyssa said, "everything we build turns to junk."**

**"The curse?"**

**Nyssa frowned. "I don't believe in curses. But something's wrong. And if we don't figure out the dragon problem, it's gonna get even worse."**

**"The dragon problem?" Leo hoped she was talking about a miniature dragon, maybe one that killed cockroaches, but he got the feeling he wasn't going to be so lucky.**

**Nyssa took him over to a big wall map that a couple of girls were studying. The map showed the camp—a semicircle of land with Long Island Sound on the north shore, the woods to the west, the cabins to the east, and a ring of hills to the south.**

**"It's got to be in the hills," the first girl said.**

**"We looked in the hills," the second argued. "The woods are a better hiding place."**

**"But we already set traps—"**

**"Hold up," Leo said. "You guys lost a dragon? A real full-size dragon?"**

**"It's a bronze dragon," Nyssa said.**

"Looks like there's a dragon on the loose," Apollo said

"Where have you been, we knew that in the last chapter," Artemis said rolling her eyes.

**"But yes, it's a life-size automaton. Hephaestus cabin built it years ago. Then it was lost in the woods until a few summers back, when Beckendorf found it in pieces and rebuilt it. It's been helping protect the camp, but, um, it's a little unpredictable."**

"And by unpredictable she means it can kill you easily," Thalia said sarcastically.

**"Unpredictable," Leo said.**

**"It goes haywire and smashes down cabins, sets people on fire, tries to eat the satyrs."**

"Like I said," Thalia said more serious this time though, because this thing sounded really dangerous.

**"That's pretty unpredictable."**

**Nyssa nodded. "Beckendorf was the only one who could control it. Then he died, and the dragon just got worse and worse. Finally it went berserk and ran off. Occasionally it shows up, demolishes something, and runs away again. Everyone expects us to find it and destroy it—"**

**" Destroy it?" Leo was appalled. "You've got a life-size bronze dragon, and you want to destroy it?"**

**"It breathes fire," Nyssa explained. "It's deadly and out of control."**

**"But it's a dragon! Dude, that's so awesome. Can't you try talking to it, controlling it?"**

"Can they? That would be so awesome," Leo said excitedly.

"They can, but the dragon is too out of control to be controlled," Annabeth said shaking her head.

**"We tried. Jake Mason tried. You saw how well that worked."**

Everyone flinched as they remembered the description of how he looked.

**Leo thought about Jake, wrapped in a body cast, lying alone on his bunk. "Still—"**

**"There's no other option." Nyssa turned to the other girls. "Let's try more traps in the woods—here, here, and here. Bait them with thirty-weight motor oil."**

**"The dragon drinks that?" Leo asked.**

"The dragon has one big appetite," Connor said.

**"Yeah." Nyssa sighed regretfully. "He used to like it with a little Tabasco sauce, right before bed.**

"Wow, i guess they really cared about this dragon"Piper said.

"Yeah thats what it looks like "reyna said.

**If he springs a trap, we can come in with acid sprayers—should melt through his hide. Then we get metal cutters and … and finish the job."**

**They all looked sad. Leo realized they didn't want to kill the dragon any more than he did.**

**"Guys," he said. "There has to be another way."**

**Nyssa looked doubtful, but a few other campers stopped what they were working on and drifted over to hear the conversation.**

**"Like what?" one asked. "The thing breathes fire. We can't even get close."**

"Shouldn't they have something that's fire proof," Jason questioned.

"With the way their inventions are going I doubt any of them would protect them very well," Annabeth said.

**Fire, Leo thought. Oh, man, the things he could tell them about fire… But he had to be careful, even if these were his brothers and sisters. Especially if he had to live with them.**

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked Leo, who didn't reply knowing the book would reveal his secret.

**"Well …" He hesitated. "Hephaestus is the god of fire, right? So don't any of you have like fire resistance or something?"**

**Nobody acted as if it was a crazy question, which was a relief, but Nyssa shook her head gravely.**

**"That's a Cyclops ability, Leo. Demigod children of Hephaestus … we're just good with our hands. We're builders, craftsmen, weaponsmiths—stuff like that."**

"Then how come all the Cyclopes' are dads children?" Percy asked.

"Who knows," Annabeth said shrugging.

"I do," Conner said," It's probably because Poseidon and Hephaestus got together and-"

"That's not the answer," Annabeth hurriedly cutting Conner off, because she knew what ha was going to say.

**Leo's shoulders slumped. "Oh."**

**A guy in back said, "Well, a long time ago—"**

**"Yeah, okay," Nyssa conceded. "A long time ago some children of Hephaestus were born with power over fire. But that ability was very, very rare. And always dangerous. No demigod like that has been born in centuries. The last one …" She looked at one of the other kids for help.**

**"Sixteen sixty-six," the girl offered. "Guy named Thomas Faynor. He started the Great Fire of London, destroyed most of the city."**

"Wow that was a long time ago," Nico said.

**"Right," Nyssa said. "When a child of Hephaestus like that appears, it usually means something catastrophic is about to happen. And we don't need any more catastrophes."**

**Leo tried to keep his face clear of emotion, which wasn't his strong suit. "I guess I see your point. Too bad, though. If you could resist flames, you could get close to the dragon."**

**"Then it would kill you with its claws and fangs," Nyssa said. "Or simply step on you. No, we've got to destroy it. Trust me, if anyone could figure out another answer …"**

**She didn't finish, but Leo got the message. This was the cabin's big test. If they could do something only Beckendorf could do, if they could subdue the dragon without killing it, then maybe their curse would be lifted. But they were stumped for ideas. Any camper who figured out how would be a hero.**

**A conch horn blew in the distance. Campers started putting up their tools and projects.**

**Leo hadn't realized it was getting so late, but he looked through the windows and saw the sun going down. His ADHD did that to him sometimes. If he was bored, a fifty minute class seemed like six hours. If he was interested in something, like touring a demigod camp, hours slipped away and bam— the day was over.**

**"Dinner," Nyssa said. "Come on, Leo."**

**"Up at the pavilion, right?" he asked.**

**She nodded.**

**"You guys go ahead," Leo said. "Can you … give me a second?"**

**Nyssa hesitated. Then her expression softened. "Sure. It's a lot to process. I remember my first day. Come up when you're ready. Just don't touch anything. Almost every project in here can kill you if you're not careful."**

"So that;s why we're forbidden to go in there," Travis muttered.

"That plus you're to busy wanting sucking Katie's face," Connor added as Travis blushed a deep shade of red,

Everybody started laughing.

"What"Katie asked.

"Nothing,Lets get going with this story NOW piper"

so piper began reading.

**"No touching," Leo promised.**

**His cabinmates filed out of the forge. Soon Leo was alone with the sounds of the bellows, the waterwheels, and small machines clicking and whirring.**

**He stared at the map of camp—the locations where his newfound siblings were going to put traps to catch a dragon. It was wrong. Plain wrong.**

**Very rare, he thought. And always dangerous.**

Annabeth started becoming suspicious there had to be a reason he was thinking about the fire ability. Unless-no that's not possible no child of Hephaestus has had that power for ages, and as Annabeth had this inner debate Piper continued reading.

**He held out his hand and studied his fingers. They were long and thin, not callused like the other Hephaestus campers'. Leo had never been the biggest or the strongest kid.**

"Yea you really did sound like Hermes's kid in the beginning," Connor said.

**He'd survived in tough neighborhoods, tough schools, tough foster homes by using his wits. He was the class clown, the court jester, because he'd learned early that if you cracked jokes and pretended you weren't scared, you usually didn't get beat up.**

"Yep that's out mtto," Connor said.

"No it isn't," Travis, replied, " It's steal and blame everything on someone else."

"wow good motto"Katie said her words dipping in sarcasm.

"Yeah I know"travis responded.

"then why do you always get caught if you blame it on everybody else"Katie asked.

travis was speechless.

**Even the baddest gangster kids would tolerate you, keep you around for laughs. Plus, humor was a good way to hide the pain. And if that didn't work, there was always Plan B. Run away. Over and over.**

**There was a Plan C, but he'd promised himself never to use it again.**

**He felt an urge to try it now—something he hadn't done since the accident, since his mom's death.**

**He extended his fingers and felt them tingle, like they were waking up—pins and needles. Then flames flickered to life, curls of red-hot fire dancing across his palm.**

Everyone's eyes widened as they stared at Leo, so he could control fire meaning he could catch the dragon.

"Who wants to read next?" Piper asked softly.

"But that is cool that you can control fire"reyna said.

"NO its not "

piper and reyna both hugged him and said yes and Leo was blushing.

Jason wanted to rip Leo head off right there and then but Leo looked so sad he gave it this one just this once.


	8. Jason VII

**Chapter Seven**

**Jason VII**

Percy "Oh Oh Oh, can i read please please".

"Yes,you can read"Annabeth.

"**Jason VII," **Percy read.

"Uggggg my pov again"Jason said.

"Its okay i think its cute" Piper said holding his hands.

Jason was blushing,"Ahhhhh"

Everybody started lauging.

**AS SOON AS JASON SAW THE HOUSE, he knew he was a dead man.**

"That's exactly how I feel when I see the it," Connor said nodding his head at Jason.

"Really," Jason asked frowning.

Conner started shaking his head and said," No I was just trying to make you feel less stupid at feeling scared by seeing a normal house."

"Thanks you made me feel a whole lot better," Jason said with heavy sarcasm in his voice, but Conner didn't notice and replied with a smile.

**"Here we are!" Drew said cheerfully. "The Big House, camp headquarters."**

**It didn't look threatening, just a four-story manor painted baby blue with white trim. The wraparound porch had lounge chairs, a card table, and an empty wheelchair.**

**Wind chimes shaped like nymphs turned into trees as they spun. Jason could imagine old people coming here for summer vacation, sitting on the porch and sipping prune juice while they watched the sunset.**

Travis would have said something to Jason, but he was still scared by the glare Katie was sending him.

The look seemed to be saying dont you dare open your mouth or ill take my dagger and slowly kill you and it will be painfully.

**Still, the windows seemed to glare down at him like angry eyes. The wide-open doorway looked ready to swallow him. On the highest gable, a bronze eagle weathervane spun in the wind and pointed straight in his direction, as if telling him to turn around.**

**Every molecule in Jason's body told him he was on enemy ground.**

**"I am not supposed to be here," he said.**

**Drew circled her arm through his. "Oh, please. You're perfect here, sweetie. Believe me, I've seen a lot of heroes."**

**Drew smelled like Christmas—a strange combination of pine and nutmeg. Jason wondered if she always smelled like that, or if it was some kind of special perfume for the holidays.**

"That's her holiday perfume," Thalia sneered. "Drew changes it almost everyday and she dumps the whole the bottle on herself." She finished.

"Ugggg, that sounds disgusting"Piper said.

"Yep,I agree"Reyna said.

**Her pink eyeliner was really distracting. Every time she blinked, he felt compelled to look at her. Maybe that was the point, to show off her warm brown eyes.**

**She was pretty. No doubt about that. But she made Jason feel uncomfortable.**

**He slipped his arm away as gently as he could. "Look, I appreciate—"**

**"Is it that girl?" Drew pouted. "Oh, please, tell me you are not dating the Dumpster Queen."**

"Well isn't she a saint," Piper said with mock sarcasm.

"No... I don't really think she does," Connor said.

Piper sighed and said," Conner it's called sarcasm."

"What is?" Conner asked with an innocent face.

"Never mind," Piper replied with a shake of her head.

**"You mean Piper? Um …"**

**Jason wasn't sure how to answer. He didn't think he'd ever seen Piper before today, but he felt strangely guilty about it. He knew he shouldn't be in this place. He shouldn't befriend these people, and certainly he shouldn't date one of them. Still … Piper had been holding his hand when he woke up on that bus. She believed she was his girlfriend. She'd been brave on the skywalk, fighting those venti, and when Jason had caught her in midair and they'd held each other face-to-face, he couldn't pretend he wasn't a little tempted to kiss her. But that wasn't right. He didn't even know his own story. He couldn't play with her emotions like that.**

Both Jason and Piper blushed.

"It's nice to know my little brother know how to respect women," Thalia said," Unlike some other people." She finished staring at Travis and Conner.

"What are you talking about? I so respect women. Just last week Katie and I-" Travis stopped his sentence short as he saw the look Katie gave him.

"What happened"Hazel asked.

"Well I filled her cabin with whip cream,and she came over to me and she demanded me to clean it up but at a price "

"The price was i had to kiss him for 5 min"Katie said.

"Yeah, But i didnt get it"

"I told him to close his eyes,and he actually did it and then I..."

"She punched me thats why i had a black eye that week"

Everybody burst out laughing.

**Drew rolled her eyes. "Let me help you decide, sweetie. You can do better. A guy with your looks and obvious talent?"**

**She wasn't looking at him, though. She was staring at a spot right above his head.**

**"You're waiting for a sign," he guessed. "Like what popped over Leo's head."**

**"What? No! Well … yes. I mean, from what I heard, you're pretty powerful, right? You're going to be important at camp, so I figure your parent will claim you right away. And I'd love to see that. I wanna be with you every step of the way! So is your dad or mom the god? Please tell me it's not your mom. I would hate it if you were an Aphrodite kid."**

"As if," Thalia said rolling her eyes.

Lightning boomed.

its just there's no one Jason's one of your children," Thalia said," Plus he would never date her." She finished.

**"Why?"**

**"Then you'd be my half brother, silly. You can't date somebody from your own cabin. Yuck!"**

**"But aren't all the gods related?" Jason asked. "So isn't everyone here your cousin or something?"**

**"Aren't you cute! Sweetie, the godly side of your family doesn't count except for your parent. So anybody from another cabin—they're fair game. So who's your godly parent—mom or dad?"**

"She's really starting to annoy me," Piper grumbled.

Everybody agreeed with her.

**As usual, Jason didn't have an answer. He looked up, but no glowing sign popped above his head. At the top of the Big House, the weathervane was still pointing his direction, that bronze eagle glaring as if to say, Turn around, kid, while you still can.**

**Then he heard footsteps on the front porch. No—not footsteps— hooves .**

**"Chiron!" Drew called. "This is Jason. He's totally awesome!"**

**Jason backed up so fast he almost tripped. Rounding the corner of the porch was a man on horseback. Except he wasn't on horseback—he was part of the horse. From the waist up he was human, with curly brown hair and a well-trimmed beard. He wore a Tshirt that said World's Best Centaur, and had a quiver and bow strapped to his back.**

**His head was so high up he had to duck to avoid the porch lights, because from the waist down, he was a white stallion.**

**Chiron started to smile at Jason. Then the color drained from his face.**

**"You …" The centaur's eyes flared like a cornered animal's. "You should be dead."**

"Chiron's never been the most sociable person," Annabeth said as everyone looked at the book in confusion, why was Jason supposed to be dead?

**Chiron ordered Jason—well, invited, but it sounded like an order—to come inside the house. He told Drew to go back to her cabin, which Drew didn't look happy about.**

**The centaur trotted over to the empty wheelchair on the porch. He slipped off his quiver and bow and backed up to the chair, which opened like a magician's box. Chiron gingerly stepped into it with his back legs and began scrunching himself into a space that should've been much too small. Jason imagined a truck's reversing noises— beep, beep, beep— as the centaur's lower half disappeared and the chair folded up, popping out a set of fake human legs covered in a blanket, so Chiron appeared to be a regular mortal guy in a wheelchair.**

**"Follow me," he ordered. "We have lemonade."**

"Because lemonade is the way to attract the guy who you said should be dead," Travis said.

"Travis could you do me a favour," Thalia said in a sweet voice.

"Why of course Thalia," Travis said with a smile," It's nice to know my services are needed."

"Shut up," Thalia said.

Excuse me?" Travis asked confused.

"I asked if you could do me a favour, you said sure, and the favour was to shut up," Thalia replied with a smirk to which Travis would have replied, but a favors' a favour, although he could have talked but then who knows what Thalia would have done.

**The living room looked like it had been swallowed by a rain forest. Grapevines curved up the walls and across the ceiling, which Jason found a little strange. He didn't think plants grew like that inside, especially in the winter, but these were leafy green and bursting with bunches of red grapes.**

**Leather couches faced a stone fireplace with a crackling fire. Wedged in one corner, an old-style Pac-Man arcade game beeped and blinked. Mounted on the walls was an assortment of masks—smiley/frowny Greek theater types, feathered Mardi Gras masks, Venetian Carnevale masks with big beaklike noses, carved wooden masks from Africa.**

"When did the Big House get an ugly makeover?" Nico asked.

Lightning boomed and Grapes started falling out of the sky.

"That answers my question," Nico said to himself.

**Grapevines grew through their mouths so they seemed to have leafy tongues. Some had red grapes bulging through their eyeholes.**

**But the weirdest thing was the stuffed leopard's head above the fireplace. It looked so real, its eyes seemed to follow Jason. Then it snarled, and Jason nearly leaped out of his skin.**

"At least there's one good thing in there," Connor said laughing, thinking of all the ways he could prank people with that.

**"Now, Seymour," Chiron chided. "Jason is a friend. Behave yourself."**

**"That thing is alive!" Jason said.**

**Chiron rummaged through the side pocket of his wheelchair and brought out a package of Snausages. He threw one to the leopard, who snapped it up and licked his lips.**

**"You must excuse the décor," Chiron said. "All this was a parting gift from our old director before he was recalled to Mount Olympus. He thought it would help us to remember him. Mr. D has a strange sense of humor."**

**"Mr. D," Jason said. "Dionysus?"**

**"Mmm hmm." Chiron poured lemonade, though his hands were trembling a little. "As for Seymour, well, Mr. D liberated him from a Long Island garage sale. The leopard is Mr. D's sacred animal, you see, and Mr. D was appalled that someone would stuff such a noble creature.**

**He decided to grant it life, on the assumption that life as a mounted head was better than no life at all. I must say it's a kinder fate than Seymour's previous owner got."**

**Seymour bared his fangs and sniffed the air, as if hunting for more Snausages.**

**"If he's only a head," Jason said, "where does the food go when he eats?"**

**"Better not to ask," Chiron said. "Please, sit."**

**Jason took some lemonade, though his stomach was fluttering. Chiron sat back in his wheelchair and tried for a smile, but Jason could tell it was forced. The old man's eyes were as deep and dark as wells.**

**"So, Jason," he said, "would you mind telling me—ah—where you're from?"**

**"I wish I knew." Jason told him the whole story, from waking up on the bus to crashlanding at Camp Half-Blood. He didn't see any point in hiding the details, and Chiron was a good listener. He didn't react to the story, other than to nod encouragingly for more.**

**When Jason was done, the old man sipped his lemonade.**

"Stop calling him old man," Annabeth said frowning. "You're disrespecting Chiron.

"Sorry maybe I'm just not used to calling him Chiron," Jason said apologetic.

**"I see," Chiron said. "And you must have questions for me."**

**"Only one," Jason admitted. "What did you mean when you said that I should be dead?"**

**Chiron studied him with concern, as if he expected Jason to burst into flames. "My boy, do you know what those marks on your arm mean? The color of your shirt? Do you remember anything?"**

**Jason looked at the tattoo on his forearm: SPQR, the eagle, twelve straight lines.**

**"No," he said. "Nothing."**

**"Do you know where you are?" Chiron asked. "Do you understand what this place is, and who I am?"**

**"You're Chiron the centaur," Jason said. "I'm guessing you're the same one from the old stories, who used to train the Greek heroes like Heracles. This is a camp for demigods, children of the Olympian gods."**

**"So you believe those gods still exist?"**

**"Yes," Jason said immediately. "I mean, I don't think we should worship them or sacrifice chickens to them or anything, but they're still around because they're a powerful part of civilization. They move from country to country as the center of power shifts—like they moved from Ancient Greece to Rome."**

"You know a lot for a guy who lost his memory," Annabeth muttered thinking that he must of learned all this stuff somewhere, but where?

"It looks like he has his basic memory"Octavain was so quiet people just noticed him there.

rachel thought He does were still in the same position and he didnt even complain he looked like he was was leaning against his she thought he has 6 pack.

**"I couldn't have said it better." Something about Chiron's voice had changed. "So you already know the gods are real. You have already been claimed, haven't you?"**

**"Maybe," Jason answered. "I'm not really sure."**

**Seymour the leopard snarled.**

**Chiron waited, and Jason realized what had just happened. The centaur had switched to another language and Jason had understood, automatically answering in the same tongue.**

"You can speak another language? That's so cool I wish I could," Connor said.

"You idiot you do know another language, Greek," Annabeth said with a roll of her eyes.

**"Quis erat—" Jason faltered, then made a conscious effort to speak English. "What was that?"**

**"You know Latin," Chiron observed.**

"How do you know Latin?" Annabeth asked frowning.

"You'll find out," Jason said, but his answer just made Annabeth more frustrated.

**"Most demigods recognize a few phrases, of course. It's in their blood, but not as much as Ancient Greek. None can speak Latin fluently without practice."**

**Jason tried to wrap his mind around what that meant, but too many pieces were missing from his memory. He still had the feeling that he shouldn't be here. It was wrong—and dangerous. But at least Chiron wasn't threatening. In fact the centaur seemed concerned for him, afraid for his safety.**

**The fire reflected in Chiron's eyes, making them dance fretfully. "I taught your namesake, you know, the original Jason. He had a hard path. I've seen many heroes come and go. Occasionally, they have happy endings. Mostly, they don't. It breaks my heart, like losing a child each time one of my pupils dies. But you—you are not like any pupil I've ever taught. Your presence here could be a disaster."**

"Well isn't Chiron just a big bowl of sunshine," Percy said.

"How would his presence be a disaster?" Annabeth questioned, but the gods stayed quiet.

**"Thanks," Jason said. "You must be an inspiring teacher."**

**"I am sorry, my boy. But it's true. I had hoped that after Percy's success—"**

**"Percy Jackson, you mean. Annabeth's boyfriend, the one who's missing."**

That comment made everyone sad, even though they know Percy is missing they still were saddened by the thought.

**Chiron nodded. "I hoped that after he succeeded in the Titan War and saved Mount Olympus, we might have some peace. I might be able to enjoy one final triumph, a happy ending, and perhaps retire quietly. I should have known better. The last chapter approaches, just as it did before. The worst is yet to come."**

"What does he mean the worst is yet to come?" Percy asked, but no one had the answer to his question.

**In the corner, the arcade game made a sad pew-pew-pew-pew sound, like a Pac-Man had just died.**

**"Ohh-kay," Jason said. "So—last chapter, happened before, worst yet to come. Sounds fun, but can we go back to the part where I'm supposed to be dead? I don't like that part."**

**"I'm afraid I can't explain, my boy. I swore on the River Styx and on all things sacred that I would never …" Chiron frowned. "But you're here, in violation of the same oath. That too, should not be possible. I don't understand. Who would've done such a thing? Who—"**

"Come on Chiron some of us are dying to know," Annabeth said groaning, she really wanted to know what was happening, and if it had to do with Percy's disappearance.

**Seymour the leopard howled. His mouth froze, half open. The arcade game stopped beeping. The fire stopped crackling, its flames hardening like red glass. The masks stared down silently at Jason with their grotesque grape eyes and leafy tongues.**

**"Chiron?" Jason asked. "What's going—"**

**The old centaur had frozen, too. Jason jumped off the couch, but Chiron kept staring at the same spot, his mouth open mid-sentence. His eyes didn't blink. His chest didn't move.**

"What's happening?" Leo asked, but everyone just shushed him and told Athena to continue reading.

_**Jason**_**, a voice said.**

**For a horrible moment, he thought the leopard had spoken. Then dark mist boiled out of Seymour's mouth, and an even worse thought occurred to Jason: storm spirits.**

**He grabbed the golden coin from his pocket. With a quick flip, it changed into a sword.**

**The mist took the form of a woman in black robes. Her face was hooded, but her eyes glowed in the darkness. Over her shoulders she wore a goatskin cloak.**

Everyone thought it has to be Hera the goatskin cloak gave it away.

**Jason wasn't sure how he knew it was goatskin, but he recognized it and knew it was important.**

_**Would you attack your patron? **_**the woman chided. Her voice echoed in Jason's head. **_**Lower your sword**_

**"Who are you?" he demanded. "How did you—"**

_**Our time is limited, Jason. My prison grows stronger by the hour. It took me a full month to gather enough energy to work even the smallest magic through its bonds. I've managed to bring you here, but now I have little time left, and even less power. This may be the last time I can speak to you.**_

**"You're in prison?" Jason decided maybe he wouldn't lower his sword. "Look, I don't know you, and you're not my patron."**

_**You know me, **_**she insisted. **_**I have known you since your birth.**_

**"I don't remember. I don't remember anything."**

_**No, you don't, **_**she agreed. **_**That also was necessary.**_

"Meaning she took away my memory," Jason said with a glare.

"Dont worry Sparky well get it back"Piper said.

"Sparky"he asked he sounded supprised and he was scroling.

"Yeah you it just fits you"

"okay"he was actually happy they have nick-names for each other isnt that cute.

Oh god hes sounding like the Venus kids.

"Im still really curious who your parent is"Jason asked.

"Thats not the only thing your intested in,are you Jason"travis asked wiggling his eyebrow.

"Shut Up STROLL"Katie said has she hit him.

"Fine,no need to get phycical'

_**Long ago, your father gave me your life as a gift to placate my anger.**_

_**He named you Jason, after my favorite mortal. You belong to me.**_

**"Whoa," Jason said. "I don't belong to anyone."**

_**Now is the time to pay your debt,**_** she said. **_**Find my prison. Free me, or their king will rise from the earth, and I will be destroyed. You will never retrieve your memory.**_

"I say we leave her to rot in prison," Thalia said with venom in her voice.

"Unfortunately as much as we all hate Hera Jason will save her, he wants his memories back," Annabeth said not even caring that the Queen of the Gods was giving her a death glare.

**"Is that a threat? You took my memories?"**

_**You have until sunset on the solstice, Jason. Four short days. Do not fail me.**_

**The dark woman dissolved, and the mist curled into the leopard's mouth.**

**Time unfroze. Seymour's howl turned into a cough like he'd sucked in a hair ball. The fire crackled to life, the arcade machine beeped, and Chiron said, "—would dare to bring you here?"**

**"Probably the lady in the mist," Jason offered.**

**Chiron looked up in surprise. "Weren't you just sitting … why do you have a sword drawn?"**

**"I hate to tell you this," Jason said, "but I think your leopard just ate a goddess."**

**He told Chiron about the frozen-in-time visit, the dark misty figure that disappeared into Seymour's mouth.**

**"Oh, dear," Chiron murmured. "That does explain a lot."**

**"Then why don't you explain a lot to me?" Jason said. "Please."**

"Yes Chiron please explain it to all of us," Percy said.

**Before Chiron could say anything, footsteps reverberated on the porch outside. The front door blew open, and Annabeth and another girl, a redhead, burst in, dragging Piper between them. Piper's head lolled like she was unconscious.**

"You still haven't become conscious," Annabeth said frowning remembering what happened in that chapter.

**"What happened?" Jason rushed over. "What's wrong with her?"**

**"Hera's cabin," Annabeth gasped, like they'd run all the way. "Vision. Bad."**

**The redheaded girl looked up, and Jason saw that she'd been crying.**

**"I think …" The redheaded girl gulped. "I think I may have killed her."**

Piper gulped," Do you think she really killed me?"

"Nooo,you cant die your ..."Jason said.

"Shes what? Jason"Thalia and Nico asked.

They both made a pact to get Jason and Piper together and they were trying to embarrass him.

Everybody thought that they made a cute couple so they also mad a pact just like Thalia and Nicos.

Jason was blushing right now nothing just continue.

"Its the end of the chapter"Percy said.

"Ohhh"

Annabeth shook her head and said,"I dont think she killed you because it looks like you are the main character and this is a huge book"


	9. Jason VIII

**Chapter Eight**

**Jason VIII**

"**Jason VIII," **Octavian read.

**JASON AND THE REDHEAD, WHO INTRODUCED herself as Rachel, put Piper on the couch while Annabeth rushed down the hall to get a med kit. Piper was still breathing, but she wouldn't wake up. She seemed to be in some kind of coma.**

**"We've got to heal her," Jason insisted. "There's a way, right?"**

"Awww aren't you just the cutest," Connor said in a high-pitched voice to a blushing Jasonand Piper.

**Seeing her so pale, barely breathing, Jason felt a surge of protectiveness. Maybe he didn't really know her. Maybe she wasn't his girlfriend. But they'd survived the Grand Canyon together. They'd come all this way. He'd left her side for a little while, and this had happened.**

Both Jason and Piper were blushing bright red as Travis and Conner made kissing faces at them.

**Chiron put his hand on her forehead and grimaced. "Her mind is in a fragile state. Rachel, what happened?"**

**"I wish I knew," she said. "As soon as I got to camp, I had a premonition about Hera's cabin. I went inside. Annabeth and Piper came in while I was there. We talked, and then—I just blanked out. Annabeth said I spoke in a different voice."**

**"A prophecy?" Chiron asked.**

**"No. The spirit of Delphi comes from within. I know how that feels. This was like long distance, a power trying to speak through me."**

"Five bucks it was Hera," Percy said.

"I'm not betting that because for once I actually agree with you Percy," Nico said.

"Awwww,I thought you would fall for that"

"Next time Cuz"

**Annabeth ran in with a leather pouch. She knelt next to Piper. "Chiron, what happened back there—I've never seen anything like it. I've heard Rachel's prophecy voice. This was different. She sounded like an older woman. She grabbed Piper's shoulders and told her—"**

**"To free her from a prison?" Jason guessed.**

**Annabeth stared at him. "How did you know that?"**

"Annabeth you're losing your touch, Jason knows so much more than you," Travis said and Annabeth pulled out her knife and traced the edge of it.

"That may be Travis," She started," But I can still kill you in 10 seconds. Do you want to test my theory?"

Travis gulped loudly and said," No thanks I like my intestines."

**Chiron made a three-fingered gesture over his heart, like a ward against evil.**

**"Jason, tell them. Annabeth, the medicine bag, please."**

**Chiron trickled drops from a medicine vial into Piper's mouth while Jason explained what had happened when the room froze—the dark misty woman who had claimed to be Jason's patron.**

"I Know how you feel."Percy frowned he hated when everybody was quiet after a story like that.

**When he was done, no one spoke, which made him more anxious.**

"Maybe its time I teach you guys how to make someone feel comfortable." Percy said with a smile.

**"So does this happen often?" he asked. "Supernatural phone calls from convicts demanding you bust them out of jail?"**

**"Your patron," Annabeth said. "Not your godly parent?"**

**"No, she said patron. She also said my dad had given her my life."**

**Annabeth frowned. "I've never of heard anything like that before. You said the storm spirit on the skywalk—he claimed to be working for some mistress who was giving him orders, right? Could it be this woman you saw, messing with your mind?"**

"You are really slow in the book," Connor said to Annabeth.

"what ever"

**"I don't think so," Jason said. "If she were my enemy, why would she be asking for my help? She's imprisoned. She's worried about some enemy getting more powerful. Something about a king rising from the earth on the solstice—"**

**Annabeth turned to Chiron. "Not Kronos. Please tell me it's not that."**

**The centaur looked miserable. He held Piper's wrist, checking her pulse.**

**At last he said, "It is not Kronos. That threat is ended. But …"**

"Well thats Good at Least"Conner said.

"Something tells me whatever the 'but' is... isn't going to mean good news either." Percy frowned.

**"But what?" Annabeth asked.**

**Chiron closed the medicine bag. "Piper needs rest. We should discuss this later."**

**"Or now," Jason said. "Sir, Mr. Chiron, you told me the greatest threat was coming. The last**  
**chapter. You can't possibly mean something worse than an army of Titans, right?"**

Everyone groaned at that, as if Chiron had already affirmed the answer.

**"Oh," Rachel said in a small voice. "Oh, dear. The woman was Hera. Of course. Her cabin, her**  
**voice. She showed herself to Jason at the same moment."**

**"Hera?" Annabeth's snarl was even fiercer than Seymour's.**

The Stolls snickered at that but several other people thought Annabeth's reaction to this was spot on.

**"She took you over? She did this to Piper?"**

**"I think Rachel's right," Jason said. "The woman did seem like a goddess. And she wore this—**  
**this goatskin cloak. That's a symbol of Juno, isn't it?"**

**Annabeth frowned at that, "I've never heard of that."**

"It is?" Annabeth scowled. "I've never heard that."

"We heard you the first time," Connor said in an annoyed tone as he smirked at her. "Though I'm glad  
you could admit twice that you didn't know something."

"Shut up!" Annabeth practically growled.

**Chiron nodded reluctantly. "Of Juno, Hera's Roman aspect, in her most warlike state. The**  
**goatskin cloak was a symbol of the Roman soldier."**

**"So Hera is imprisoned?" Rachel asked. "Who could do that to the queen of the gods?"**

"Someone everyone should praise," Thalia grumbled.

**Annabeth crossed her arms. "Well, whoever they are, maybe we should thank them. If they can shut up Hera—"**

Everyone in the room burst out laughing,

Except Piper she was still scared for herself.

Leo and Jason saw Jason hugged her it was just a Jason and Piper knew that was the best hug.(_**Cheesey I Know sorry)**_

**"Annabeth," Chiron warned, "she is still one of the Olympians. In many ways, she is the glue that holds the gods' family together. If she truly has been imprisoned and is in danger of destruction, this could shake the foundations of the world. It could unravel the stability of Olympus, which is never great even in the best of times. And if Hera has asked Jason for help—"**

**"Fine," Annabeth grumbled. "Well, we know Titans can capture a god, right? Atlas captured Artemis a few years ago.**

**And in the old stories, the gods captured each other in traps all the time. But something worse than a Titan … ?"**

**Jason looked at the leopard's head. Seymour was smacking his lips like the goddess had tasted much better than a Snausage. "Hera said she'd been trying to break through her prison bonds for a month."**

**"Which is how long Olympus has been closed," Annabeth said. "So the gods must know something bad is going on."**

**"But why use her energy to send me here?" Jason asked. "She wiped my memory, plopped me into the Wilderness School field trip, and sent you a dream vision to come pick me up. Why am I so important? Why not just send up an emergency flare to the other gods—let them know where she is so they bust her out?"**

"Because that would be too easy for them," Travis said. "They like to put us through challenges to see  
if we can handle things ourselves."

**"The gods need heroes to do their will down here on earth," Rachel said. "That's right, isn't it?**  
**Their fates are always intertwined with demigods**."

**"That's true," Annabeth said, "but Jason's got a point. Why him? Why take his memory?"**

**"And Piper's involved somehow," Rachel said. "Hera sent her the same message— Free me. And,**  
**Annabeth, this must have something to do with Percy's disappearing."**

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "If she did anything to you...!"

"Um... I'm sure I'm fine," Percy said trying to clam her down. "And if she does have something to do  
with my disappearance... well, I'm sure it's so I can help out."

"What the heck am i saying we already know they took you"

"Yeah"everybody in the room said they had totaly forgot that Percy was taken.

**Annabeth fixed her eyes on Chiron. "Why are you so quiet, Chiron? What is it we're facing?"**

**The old centaur's face looked like it had aged ten years in a matter of minutes. The lines around**  
**his eyes were deeply etched. "My dear, in this, I cannot help you. I am so sorry."**

**Annabeth blinked. "You've never … you've never kept information from me. Even the last great**  
**prophecy—"**

"Now you know how the rest of us feel," Connor smirked at her.

"I wonder how terrible this information is if he can't tell me when it's this important," Annabeth  
frowned, ignoring Connor completely.

**"I will be in my office." His voice was heavy. "I need some time to think before dinner. Rachel,**  
**will you watch the girl? Call Argus to bring her to the infirmary, if you'd like. And Annabeth, you**  
**should speak with Jason. Tell him about—about the Greek and Roman gods."**

**"But …"**

**The centaur turned his wheelchair and rolled off down the hallway. Annabeth's eyes turned**  
**stormy. She muttered something in Greek, and Jason got the feeling it wasn't complimentary**  
**toward centaurs.**

This cause the Stolls to laugh as Annabeth grimaced.

**"I'm sorry," Jason said. "I think my being here—I don't know. I've messed things up coming to**  
**the camp, somehow. Chiron said he'd sworn an oath and couldn't talk about it."**

**"What oath?" Annabeth demanded. "I've never seen him act this way. And why would he tell me**  
**to talk to you about the gods..."**

**Her voice trailed off. Apparently she'd just noticed Jason's sword sitting on the coffee table. She**  
**touched the blade gingerly, like it might be hot.**

**"Is this gold?" she said. "Do you remember where you got it?"**

"Sure, he remembers that though everything else about him has been taken away." Connor chuckled.

"He seems to remember gods and other things... he had a change of remembering where he got his  
sword," Annabeth responded automatically.

"Im sitting right here"Jason said.

**"No," Jason said. "Like I said, I don't remember anything."**

**Annabeth nodded, like she'd just come up with a rather desperate plan. "If Chiron won't help,**  
**we'll need to figure things out ourselves. Which means … Cabin Fifteen.**

**"Which one is Cabin Fifteen?" Connor frowned.**

**"I'm sure you'll see in a minute," Annabeth said, knowing what she was planning on doing now and**  
**wondering if it was going to help.**

**Rachel, you'll keep an eye on Piper?"**

**"Sure," Rachel promised. "Good luck, you two."**

**"Hold on," Jason said. "What's in Cabin Fifteen?"**

**Annabeth stood. "Maybe a way to get your memory back."**

"Thats the end"Octavan said.


	10. Piper IX

**Chapter Nine**

**Piper IX**

"**Piper IX," **Leo read.

"Great I get to read about how dreamy Jason looks," Leo said and was smacked in the head by Piper who was blushing a deep shade of also started him everybody joined in even Frank and Hazel who were quiet this whole time.

**PIPER DREAMED ABOUT HER LAST DAY with her dad.**

Everyone frowned at that as Piper became sad remembering that her dad had been captured.

**They were on the beach near Big Sur, taking a break from surfing. The morning had been so perfect, Piper knew something had to go wrong soon—a rabid horde of paparazzi, or maybe a great white shark attack. No way her luck could hold.**

"Ok I know you guys might think I'm stupid for saying this, but I don't remember you telling us who your dad is," Connor said to Piper.

"That's because I didn't," Piper said fidgeting nervously; she was scared that they might treat her differently if they knew who her dad was.

**But so far, they'd had excellent waves, an overcast sky, and a mile of oceanfront completely to themselves. Dad had found this out-of-the-way spot, rented a beachfront villa and the properties on either side, and somehow managed to keep it secret. If he stayed there too long, Piper knew the photographers would find him. They always did.**

"Wow being famous isn't as cool as I thought it would be," Percy said, and Piper silently agreed with him; she hated how the photographers would follow her and judge her on her appearance, and the way she acted.

**"Nice job out there, Pipes." He gave her the smile he was famous for: perfect teeth, dimpled chin, a twinkle in his dark eyes that always made grown women scream and ask him to sign their bodies in permanent marker. ( **_**Seriously**_**, Piper thought, **_**get a life**_ **.)**

"At least there's one perk to being famous," Connor said smirking.

"Conner, you're an idiot," Thalia stated bluntly.

"Why Thalia is that anyway to talk to talk to your best friend," Conner replied with a smile.

"Oh I can say worst stuff, but I like to keep my swearing to a minimum," Thalia said with a burning glare to Conner, who gulped loudly and wisely closed his mouth. Thalia told Leo, who was staring at her creepily, to continue reading.

Nico was laughing his but off "who knew my soon to be girlfriend could sware"

**His close-cropped black hair gleamed with salt water. "You're getting better at hanging ten."**

**Piper flushed with pride, though she suspected Dad was just being nice. She still spent most of her time wiping out. It took special talent to run over yourself with a surfboard.**

Everyone laughed a little at that, because they knew something bad was sure to happen soon.

"This Remind me of the time i was asked if i could Surf and some really embarassing quetions"

Nico was turning was lauging she had never seen him turn bright Red.

Piper watched and asked why Nico was turning Red.

Nico just quickley told Leo to start reading.

**Her dad was the natural surfer—which made no sense since he'd been raised a poor kid in Oklahoma, hundreds of miles from the ocean—but he was amazing on the curls.**

**Piper would've given up surfing a long time ago except it let her spend time with him.**

**There weren't many ways she could do that.**

**"Sandwich?" Dad dug into the picnic basket his chef, Arno, had made. "Let's see: turkey pesto, crabcake wasabi—ah, a Piper special. Peanut butter and jelly."**

"Wow and I thought having to eat cereal everyday was weird," Nico mumbled.

"Oh it is, but Piper's dad is just slightly below you on the weird eating habits level," Connor said chuckling as Nico glared at him.

"You know Dementer forces me to eat it"

**She took the sandwich, though her stomach was too upset to eat. She always asked for PB&J. Piper was vegetarian, for one thing.**

"I think you would make great friends with Grover," Percy announced to a sad looking Piper. Piper smiled a bit, but then went back to her depressed mood.

**She had been ever since they'd driven past that slaughterhouse in Chino and the smell had made her insides want to come outside.**

"LALALALALA!" Travis started screaming.

"TRAVIS!" Annabeth yelled trying to get him to stop screaming," Why are you screaming."

"Because I don't know about you, but I don't plan on becoming a vegetarian today," Travis said as he slowly stopped screaming.

**But it was more than that. PB&J was simple food, like a regular kid would have for lunch. Sometimes she pretended her dad had actually made it for her, not a personal chef from France who liked to wrap the sandwich in gold leaf paper with a light-up sparkler instead of a toothpick.**

**Couldn't anything be simple?**

"Why would you want things to be simple?" Travis questioned, but Piper just shook her head Travis didn't understand all she wanted was her dad to notice and talk to her.

**That's why she turned down the fancy clothes Dad always offered, the designer shoes, the trips to the salon. She cut her own hair with a pair of plastic Garfield safety scissors, deliberately making it uneven. She preferred to wear beat-up running shoes, jeans, a T-shirt, and her old Polartec jacket from the time they went snowboarding.**

"That was exactly what she was wearing right now, but you had to be blind not to notice that she still looked beautiful."Jason thought.

Somehow Nico,Percy,Thalia could read his started laughing and then everyone caught on because you would have to be blind not to see the love struck Piper didn't see was wondering what everybody was laughing about.

Reyna was laughing so hard she had to lean against Leo for didnt mind at all he had this HUGE crush on she is way to out of his league.

**And she hated the snobby private schools Dad thought were good for her. She kept getting herself kicked out. He kept finding more schools.**

**Yesterday, she'd pulled her biggest heist yet—driving that "borrowed" BMW out of the dealership. She had to pull a bigger stunt each time, because it took more and more to get Dad's attention.**

Annabeth frowned she knew how it felt to be ignored by your dad, but it seems like Piper's relationship with her dad was a bit more complicated considering he was famous.

**Now she regretted it. Dad didn't know yet.**

**She'd meant to tell him that morning. Then he'd surprised her with this trip, and she couldn't ruin it. It was the first time they'd had a day together in what—three months?**

**"What's wrong?" He passed her a soda.**

**"Dad, there's something—"**

**"Hold on, Pipes. That's a serious face. Ready for Any Three Questions?"**

**They'd been playing that game for years—her dad's way of staying connected in the shortest possible amount of time. They could ask each other any three questions.**

**Nothing off-limits, and you had to answer honestly. The rest of the time, Dad promised to stay out of her business—which was easy, since he was never around.**

**Piper knew most kids would find a Q&A like this with their parents totally mortifying. But she looked forward to it. It was like surfing—not easy, but a way to feel like she actually had a father.**

**"First question," she said. "Mom."**

**No surprise. That was always one of her topics.**

"What half-blood doesn't ask about their missing parent?" Percy said to himself.

"Percy?" Thalia asked her cousin.

"Yea," Percy replied with a confused face.

"I'd hate to tell you this dear cousin, but how are you supposed to suck Annabeth's face off if you start going crazy?" Thalia said to a red Percy.

"Jeez someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today," Percy mumbled.

"I just found my brother you idiot"

"arent you suppose to be happy"Jason asked.

"ya,why do you ask"

"nothing"

**Her dad shrugged with resignation. "What do you want to know, Piper? I've already told you—she disappeared. I don't know why, or where she went. After you were born, she simply left. I never heard from her again."**

**Do you think she's still alive?"**

"Yes," Everyone said.

**It wasn't a real question. Dad was allowed to say he didn't know. But she wanted to hear how he'd answer.**

**He stared at the waves.**

**"Your Grandpa Tom," he said at last, "he used to tell me that if you walked far enough toward the sunset, you'd come to Ghost Country, where you could talk to the dead. He said a long time ago, you could bring the dead back; but then mankind messed up. Well, it's a long story."**

"Did your grandpa know Greek mythology?" Annabeth asked Piper.

Piper shook her head," No he always told old native stories. They sound a lot like the Greek myths don't they? I guess because essentially it is the same thing, but different people change it to suit it the way they want to believe it."

"Great another Annabeth, and this one actually thinks deeply," Conner said with a groan which was soon followed by a girly scream as Annabeth tackled him to the floor and gave him a lot of unmentionable death threats.

**"Like the Land of the Dead for the Greeks," Piper remembered. "It was in the west, too. And Orpheus—he tried to bring his wife back."**

**Dad nodded. A year before, he'd had his biggest role as an Ancient Greek king.**

"Getting closer to the truth!" Travis said excitedly.

"No your not"Katie replied.

"want a bet"Travis asked.

"Ya, i do"Katie said.

"All this love in the air want to make me puke"Conner said.

Both Katie and Travis started blushing and yelled "We Dont Like Each Other" that just made them to blush more.

**Piper had helped him research the myths—all those old stories about people getting turned to stone and boiled in lakes of lava. They'd had a fun time reading together, and it made Piper's life seem not so bad. For a while she'd felt closer to her dad, but like everything, it didn't last.**

**"Lot of similarities between Greek and Cherokee," Dad agreed. "Wonder what your grandpa would think if he saw us now, sitting at the end of the western land. He'd probably think we're ghosts."**

**"So you're saying you believe those stories? You think Mom is dead?"**

"Cold," Percy said.

"Son now even I'm starting to think you're going crazy," Poseidan commenting making everyone laugh at the embarrassed Percy. He would have explained why he said cold, but Leo wanted to finish this chapter so he continued reading.

**His eyes watered, and Piper saw the sadness behind them. She figured that's why women were so attracted to him. On the surface, he seemed confident and rugged, but his eyes held so much sadness. Women wanted to find out why. They wanted to comfort him, and they never could.**

"Maybe that's why Thalia likes Nico," Connor said obviously not having learned from his previous assault.

"You know Conner I think you, Nico and me should I have a talk after this chapter, I'm sure we both have a lot to say to you," Thalia said with an evil smile.

**Dad told Piper it was a Cherokee thing—they all had that darkness inside them from generations of pain and suffering. But Piper thought it was more than that.**

**"I don't believe the stories," he said. "They're fun to tell, but if I really believed in Ghost Country, or animal spirits, or Greek gods … I don't think I could sleep at night. I'd always be looking for somebody to blame."**

"I guess thats why my mom didnt tell him"Piper said looking sad.

Jason started comforting stayed like that _**(there going to stay like that for the whole chapter)**_

**Somebody to blame for Grandpa Tom dying of lung cancer, Piper thought, before Dad got famous and had the money to help. For Mom—the only woman he'd ever loved —abandoning him without even a good-bye note, leaving him with a newborn girl he wasn't ready to care for. For his being so successful, and yet still not happy.**

**"I don't know if she's alive," he said. "But I do think she might as well be in Ghost Country, Piper. There's no getting her back. If I believed otherwise... I don't think I could stand that, either."**

**Behind them, a car door opened. **

This is were it goes wrong is the thought that was running in everyone's head.

**Piper turned, and her heart sank. Jane was marching toward them in her business suit, wobbling over the sand in her high heels, her PDA in hand. The look on her face was partly annoyed, partly triumphant, and Piper knew she'd been in touch with the police.**

"Someone's a mood killer." Nico said feeling sad for Piper.

_**Please fall down, **_**Piper prayed. **_**If there's any animal spirit or Greek god that can help, make Jane take a header. I'm not asking for permanent damage, just knock her out for the rest of the day, please?**_

"If the gods answered those prayers, there'd be a lot of injured or dead people right now," Travis said chuckling.

"Ohh travis if you think that i forgot about our bet your wrong"Katie said.

"travis handed her $50 bucks.

**But Jane kept advancing.**

**"Dad," Piper said quickly. "Something happened yesterday…"**

**But he'd seen Jane, too. He was already reconstructing his business face. Jane wouldn't be here if it wasn't serious. A studio head called—a project fell through—or Piper had messed up again.**

**"We'll get back to that, Pipes," he promised. "I'd better see what Jane wants. You know how she is."**

**Yes—Piper knew. Dad trudged across the sand to meet her. Piper couldn't hear them talking, but she didn't need to. She was good at reading faces. Jane gave him the facts about the stolen car, occasionally pointing at Piper like she was a disgusting pet that had whizzed on the carpet.**

"Piper do you swear?" Nico asked out of the blue.

"Umm not really why do you ask?" Piper asked him timidly.

"Because there's this nice little swear word I would use to call Jane, but then Thalia will probably hurt me," Nico explained.

"*Cough* whipped *cough *," Conner said not so subtly.

"You know Conner I really am excited for our chat after this chapter," Nico said with fake enthusiasm.

**Dad's energy and enthusiasm drained away. He gestured for Jane to wait. Then he walked back to Piper. She couldn't stand that look in his eyes—like she'd betrayed his trust.**

"No offence Piper, but your dad is annoying me. I mean the way he looks all disappointed when all he should do is just listen to you," Annabeth ranted, but stopped when Percy gave her look pointing to Piper, who was sulking probably thinking of her captured dad.

**"You told me you would try, Piper," he said.**

**"Dad, I hate that school. I can't do it. I wanted to tell you about the BMW, but—"**

**"They've expelled you," he said. "A car, Piper? You're sixteen next year. I would buy you any car you want. How could you—"**

**"You mean Jane would buy me a car?" Piper demanded. She couldn't help it. The anger just welled up and spilled out of her. "Dad, just listen for once. Don't make me wait for you to ask your stupid three questions. I want to go to regular school. I want you to take me to parents' night, not Jane. Or homeschool me! I learned so much when we read about Greece together. We could do that all the time! We could—"**

**"Don't make this about me," her dad said.**

Now even Thalia wanted to say something, but upsetting Piper even more wouldn't help anyone.

But everyone was thankful that Jason was comforting her.

**"I do the best I can, Piper. We've had this conversation."**

_**No**_**, she thought. **_**You've cut off this conversation. For years.**_

**Her dad sighed. "Jane's talked to the police, brokered a deal. The dealership won't press charges, but you have to agree to go to a boarding school in Nevada. They specialize in problems … in kids with tough issues."**

**"That's what I am." Her voice trembled. "A problem."**

"Don't worry Piper we've all been called problems, but at least you have us, your family," Connor said serious for once. Piper who was basically on the verge of tears smiled at him, and looked at everyone in the room. It was true they were her family now, her weird messed up family.

**"Piper … you said you'd try. You let me down. I don't know what else to do."**

**"Do anything," she said. "But do it yourself! Don't let Jane handle it for you. You can't just send me away."**

**Dad looked down at the picnic basket. His sandwich sat uneaten on a piece of gold leaf paper. They'd planned for a whole afternoon in the surf. Now that was ruined.**

**Piper couldn't believe he'd really give in to Jane's wishes. Not this time. Not on something as huge as boarding school.**

**"Go see her," Dad said. "She's got the details."**

**"Dad …"**

**He looked away, gazing at the ocean like he could see all the way to Ghost Country.**

**Piper promised herself she wouldn't cry. She headed up the beach toward Jane, who smiled coldly and held up a plane ticket. As usual, she'd already arranged everything.**

**Piper was just another problem of the day that Jane could now check off her list.**

**Piper's dream changed.**

**She stood on a mountaintop at night, city lights glimmering below. In front of her, a bonfire blazed. Purplish flames seemed to cast more shadows than light, but the heat was so intense, her clothes steamed.**

"Uh oh," Connor said.

**"This is your second warning," a voice rumbled, so powerful it shook the earth. Piper had heard that voice before in her dreams. She'd tried to convince herself it wasn't as scary as she remembered, but it was worse.**

**Behind the bonfire, a huge face loomed out of the darkness. It seemed to float above the flames, but Piper knew it must be connected to an enormous body. The crude features might've been chiseled out of rock. The face hardly seemed alive except for its piercing white eyes, like raw diamonds, and its horrible frame of dreadlocks, braided with human bones. It smiled, and Piper shivered.**

**"You'll do what you're told," the giant said. "You'll go on the quest. Do our bidding, and you may walk away alive. Otherwise—"**

**He gestured to one side of the fire. Piper's father was hanging unconscious, tied to a stake.**

**She tried to cry out. She wanted to call to her dad, and demand the giant let him go, but her voice wouldn't work.**

**"I'll be watching," the giant said. "Serve me, and you both live. You have the word of Enceladus.**

"No!" Annabeth yelled. "He can't be trusted, he's a giant and a tricky one at that."

"Shouldn't he be dead?" Percy asked.

"Percy that's the danger Chiron was talking about, the giants are being reborn, but I think there's also more danger, something bigger," Annabeth said.

**Fail me … well, I've slept for millennia, young demigod. I am very hungry. Fail, and I'll eat well."**

Annabeth became worried, she really hoped that Piper wouldn't trust him.

**The giant roared with laughter. The earth trembled. A crevice opened at Piper's feet, and she tumbled into darkness.**

**She woke feeling like she'd been trampled by an Irish step-dancing troupe. Her chest hurt, and she could barely breathe. She reached down and closed her hand around the hilt of the dagger Annabeth had given her—Katoptris, Helen of Troy's weapon.**

**So Camp Half-Blood hadn't been a dream.**

"It would probably be better than my other dreams," Piper muttered to herself.

**"How are you feeling?" someone asked.**

**Piper tried to focus. She was lying in a bed with a white curtain on one side, like in a nurse's office. That redheaded girl, Rachel Dare, sat next to her. On the wall was a poster of a cartoon satyr who looked disturbingly like Coach Hedge with a thermometer sticking out of his mouth. The caption read: Don't let sickness get your goat!**

"What does that mean?" Leo asked, but was replied with a bunch of shrugs.

**"Where—" Piper's voice died when she saw the guy at the door.**

**He looked like a typical California surfer dude—buff and tan, blond hair, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. But he had hundreds of blue eyes all over his body—along his arms, down his legs, and all over his face. Even his feet had eyes, peering up at her from between the straps of his sandals.**

**"That's Argus," Rachel said, "our head of security. He's just keeping an eye on things … so to speak."**

**Argus nodded. The eye on his chin winked.**

**"Where—?" Piper tried again, but she felt like she was talking through a mouthful of cotton.**

**"You're in the Big House," Rachel said. "Camp offices. We brought you here when you collapsed."**

**"You grabbed me," Piper remembered. "Hera's voice—"**

**"I'm so sorry about that," Rachel said. "Believe me, it was not my idea to get possessed. Chiron healed you with some nectar—"**

**"Nectar?"**

**"The drink of the gods. In small amounts, it heals demigods, if it doesn't—ah—burn you to ashes."**

**"Oh. Fun."**

**Rachel sat forward. "Do you remember your vision?"**

"Yep" Percy said.

**Piper had a moment of dread, thinking she meant the dream about the giant. Then she realized Rachel was talking about what happened in Hera's cabin.**

**"Something's wrong with the goddess," Piper said.**

"There's a lot of things wrong with the goddess," Annabeth grumbled with mostly everyone nodded is agreement.

**"She told me to free her, like she's trapped. She mentioned the earth swallowing us, and a fiery one, and something about the solstice."**

"Wow that's just like getting a prophecy, but it's more to the point," Travis said to no one in particular.

**In the corner, Argus made a rumbling sound in his chest. His eyes all fluttered at once.**

**"Hera created Argus," Rachel explained. "He's actually very sensitive when it comes to her safety. We're trying to keep him from crying, because last time that happened …well, it caused quite a flood."**

"That must have been one heck of a flood," Leo said trying to imagine it.

"Trust me, it was," Connor replied with a laugh.

**Argus sniffled. He grabbed a fistful of Kleenex from the bedside table and started dabbing eyes all over his body.**

**"So …" Piper tried not to stare as Argus wiped the tears from his elbows. "What's happened to Hera?"**

**"We're not sure," Rachel said. "Annabeth and Jason were here for you, by the way. Jason didn't want to leave you, but Annabeth had an idea—something that might restore his memories."**

**"That's … that's great."**

**Jason had been here for her? She wished she'd been conscious for that. But if he got his memories back, would that be a good thing? She was still holding out hope that they really did know each other. She didn't want their relationship to be just a trick of the Mist.**

Aphrodite gave her daughter a sympathetic look, at least she's being hopeful.

_**Get over yourself,**_ **she thought. If she was going to save her dad, it didn't matter whether Jason liked her or not. He would hate her eventually. Everyone here would.**

"No Matter what Piper im still going to like you"

**She looked down at the ceremonial dagger strapped to her side. Annabeth had said it was a sign of power and status, but not normally used in battle. All show and no substance. A fake, just like Piper. And its name was Katoptris, looking glass. She didn't dare unsheathe it again, because she couldn't bear to see her own reflection.**

**"Don't worry." Rachel squeezed her arm. "Jason seems like a good guy. He had a vision too, a lot like yours. Whatever's happening with Hera—I think you two are meant to work together."**

**Rachel smiled like this was good news, but Piper's spirits plunged even further. She'd thought that this quest—whatever it was—would involve nameless people. Now Rachel was basically telling her: **_**Good news! Not only is your dad being held ransom by a cannibal giant, you also get to betray the guy you like! How awesome is that?**_

"When you put it that way maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to say," Annabeth said.

**"Hey," Rachel said. "No need to cry. You'll figure it out."**

**Piper wiped her eyes, trying to get control of herself. This wasn't like her. She was supposed to be tough—a hardened car thief, the scourge of L.A. private schools. Here she was, crying like a baby. "How can you know what I'm facing?"**

**Rachel shrugged. "I know it's a hard choice, and your options aren't great. Like I said, I get hunches sometimes. But you're going to be claimed at the campfire. I'm almost sure. When you know who your godly parent is, things might be clearer."**

_**Clearer**_**, Piper thought. **_**Not necessarily better.**_

**She sat up in bed. Her forehead ached like someone had driven a spike between her eyes. There's no getting your mother back, her dad had told her. But apparently, tonight, her mom might claim her. For the first time, Piper wasn't sure she wanted that.**

Claimed demigods smiled sadly remembering when they first got claimed.

**"I hope it's Athena." She looked up, afraid Rachel might make fun of her, but the oracle just smiled.**

**"Piper, I don't blame you. Truthfully? I think Annabeth is hoping that too. You guys are a lot alike."**

**The comparison made Piper feel even guiltier. "Another hunch? You don't know anything about me."**

**"You'd be surprised."**

**"You're just saying that because you're an oracle, aren't you? You're supposed to sound all mysterious."**

**Rachel laughed. "Don't be giving away my secrets, Piper. And don't worry. Things will work out—just maybe not the way you plan."**

**"That's not making me feel better."**

**Somewhere in the distance, a conch horn blew. Argus grumbled and opened the door.**

**"Dinner?" Piper guessed.**

**"You slept through it," Rachel said. "Time for the campfire. Let's go find out who you are."**

"That's the end of the chapter," Leo said.

"Why don't we take a quick break so that Conner, Nico and I can have that chat we talked about," Thalia said, and everyone agreed in agreement, well except for Conner who was being dragged to a different place by Nico.


	11. Piper X

**i would love suggetions or any comments if you have any ideas please PM me and we can work on a chapter together i will also give you all the wanted you to know i had worked with SephCurrentDaugherofPosedido n on 1 of her chapters go check it if you have any ideas please do PM me about it and well work something out.I always respond to worry i also hate Authors NOtes.**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

**Piper X**

Everyone, minus Connor, Thalia, and Nico, was talking together waiting for the 3 demigods to finish. Annabeth and Percy were answering questions Piper, Leo, and Jason and most of the after about an hour Thalia and Nico came out followed by Connor who looked really bad. He was limping into the room and he had various bruises, also he smelled slightly of burned meat. Once everyone was seated againPercy began to read.

"**Piper X," **Percy read.

Everyone was anticipating this chapter because they had a feeling that Piper's godly parent would be revealed.

**THE WHOLE CAMPFIRE IDEA FREAKED PIPER**

"Your afraid of campfires?" Percy asked while trying not to laugh because it sounded funny to him. On the other hand, Piper was confused she had always liked campfires.

**it made her think of that huge purple bonfire in the dreams, and her father tied to a stake.**

**What she got instead was almost as terrifying: a sing-along.**

Everyone burst out laughing-except Conner who was in too much pain to laugh.

**The amphitheater steps were carved into the side of a hill, facing a stone-lined fire pit. Fifty or sixty kids filled the rows, clustered into groups under various banners.**

**Piper spotted Jason in the front next to Annabeth. Leo was nearby, sitting with a bunch of burly-looking campers under a steel gray banner emblazoned with a hammer.**

**Standing in front of the fire, half a dozen campers with guitars and strange, old fashioned harps—lyres?—were jumping around, leading a song about pieces of armor, something about how their grandma got dressed for war.**

"That's weird, why is Clarisse getting dressed for a war?" Travis said with a smirk knowing that she could do nothing to him since she wasn't here, but Travis forgot one little detail,Frank was there.

Frank didnt know his godly parent but he felt like he had to defend this guy named Ares.

**Everybody was singing with them and making gestures for the pieces of armor and joking around. It was quite possibly the weirdest thing Piper had ever seen—one of those campfire songs that would've been completely embarrassing in daylight; but in the dark, with everybody participating, it was kind of corny and fun.**

"You are starting to sound very weird, and its hard to weird out us," Nico said gesturing to all the demigods and gods.

**As the energy level got higher, the ,flames did too, turning from red to orange to gold.**

**Finally the song ended with a lot of rowdy applause. A guy on a horse trotted up. At least in the flickering light, Piper thought it was a guy on a horse. Then she realized it was a centaur—his bottom half a white stallion, his top half a middle-aged guy with curly hair and a trimmed beard. He brandished a spear impaled with toasted marshmallows.**

"You guys roast your marshmallows on spears?" Leo asked while Jason and the other Romands like Reyna thought looked thoughtful, _the Greeks seem to have a lot more fun_, he thought to himself. Someone would have answered Leo's question but with being only maybe a few moments away from Piper's parentage being revealed, they could really care less.

**"Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first—"**

**"What about capture the flag?" somebody yelled. Grumbling broke out among some kids in armor, sitting under a red banner with the emblem of a boar's head.**

**"Yes," the centaur said. "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."**

**"And kill people!" one of them shouted.**

**"However," Chiron said, "until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"**

"Uh oh something tells me Clarisse won't be happy about that," Percy said.

"She'll be fine not losing for another few weeks," Annabeth said with a smirk.

**He turned to Leo's group. Leo winked at Piper and shot her with a finger gun. The girl next to him stood uncomfortably. She wore an army jacket a lot like Leo's, with her hair covered in a red bandanna. "We're working on it."**

**More grumbling.**

**"How, Nyssa?" an Ares kid demanded.**

**"Really hard," the girl said.**

**Nyssa sat down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which caused the fire to sputter chaotically. Chiron stamped his hoof against the fire pit stones— bang, bang, bang —and the campers fell silent.**

**"We will have to be patient," Chiron said. "In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."**

**"Percy?" someone asked. The fire dimmed even further, but Piper didn't need the mood flames to sense the crowd's anxiety.**

That just made Percy depressed, he felt great that everyone cared about him so much, but they were all so sad and confused.

**Chiron gestured to Annabeth. She took a deep breath and stood.**

**"I didn't find Percy," she announced. Her voice caught a little when she said his name.**

**"He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis —everyone's out looking.**

**We will find him. Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."**

**"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" a girl called out.**

**Everyone turned. The voice had come from a group in back, sitting under a rose-colored banner with a dove emblem. They'd been chatting among themselves and not paying much attention until their leader stood up: Drew.**

**Everyone else looked surprised. Apparently Drew didn't address the crowd very often.**

"Something tells me people enjoy her keeping her yap shut," Leo said

"I hear ya bro"Reyna said.

All the other Romans were shocked they had never seen Reyna so calm and was all thanks to Leo who Reyna was still lening was really happy he really liked Reyna,but she was out of his when he took her hand she didnt pull away giving him a disgusted look he was couldnt believe it yes yes He took her hand.

**"Drew?" Annabeth said. "What do you mean?"**

**"Well, come on." Drew spread her hands like the truth was obvious. "Olympus is closed. Percy's disappeared. Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?"**

Thalia grinned, "Wow she actually made a valid point."

**Piper whispered to Rachel, "What's she talking about—the Great Prophecy?"**

**Then she realized everyone else was looking at Rachel, too.**

**"Well?" Drew called down. "You're the oracle. Has it started or not?"**

**Rachel's eyes looked scary in the firelight. Piper was afraid she might clench up and start channeling a freaky peacock goddess again,**

Everyone looked at Rachel who was lying her head in Octavian didnt even look offended she just looked Octavian and Rachel noticed there position they turned Red but they still were in the same position.

**but she stepped forward calmly and addressed the camp.**

**"Yes," she said. "The Great Prophecy has begun."**

**Pandemonium broke out.**

**Piper caught Jason's eye. He mouthed, You all right? She nodded and managed a smile, but then looked away. It was too painful seeing him and not being with him.**

alll the girlsgave a sympathetic look to her daughter who was blushing, and gave a pity look to Jason who was also blushing.

**When the talking finally subsided, Rachel took another step toward the audience, and fifty-plus demigods leaned away from her, as if one skinny redheaded mortal was more intimidating than all of them put together.**

**"For those of you who have not heard it," Rachel said, "the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this:**

**"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"**

**Jason shot to his feet. His eyes looked wild, like he'd just been tasered.**

**Even Rachel seemed caught off guard. "J-Jason?" she said. "What's—"**

**"Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," he chanted. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem."**

"Latin," Jason and the other Romans said said with a smile, he had grown up reading, writing, and breathing that language.

**An uneasy silence settled on the group. Piper could see from their faces that several of them were trying to translate the lines. She could tell it was Latin, but she wasn't sure why her hopefully future boyfriend was suddenly chanting like a Catholic priest.**

**"You just … finished the prophecy," Rachel stammered. "— An oath to keep with a final breath/And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. How did you—"**

**I know those lines." Jason winced and put his hands to his temples. "I don't know how, but I know that prophecy."**

**"In Latin, no less," Drew called out. "Handsome and smart."**

**There was some giggling from the Aphrodite cabin. God, what a bunch of losers, Piper thought.**

Some people chuckled, but they just wanted to find out who Piper's godly parent is and what the prophecy means.

**But it didn't do much to break the tension. The campfire was burning a chaotic, nervous shade of green.**

**Jason sat down, looking embarrassed, but Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder and muttered something reassuring. Piper felt a pang of jealousy. It should have been her next to him, comforting him.**

Percy felt a tiny surge of jealousy although he knew how much Annabeth loved him.

**Rachel Dare still looked a little shaken. She glanced back at Chiron for guidance, but the centaur stood grim and silent, as if he were watching a play he couldn't interrupt—a tragedy that ended with a lot of people dead onstage.**

"He makes all of us feel so much better," Nico said sarcasm evident in his voice.

**"Well," Rachel said, trying to regain her composure. "So, yeah, that's the Great Prophecy. We hoped it might not happen for years, but I fear it's starting now. I can't give you proof. It's just a feeling. And like Drew said, some weird stuff is happening. The seven demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Some are not here."**

"What the hell does that mean?" Thalia said. No one answered her question, but they were all thinking that something bad was going to happen.

**The campers began to stir and mutter, looking at each other nervously, until a drowsy voice in the crowd called out, "I'm here! Oh … were you calling roll?"**

**"Go back to sleep, Clovis," someone yelled, and a lot of people laughed.**

**"Anyway," Rachel continued, "we don't know what the Great Prophecy means. We don't know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad."**

**"Or worse," Chiron murmured.**

"Way to be comforting," Percy muttered.

**Maybe he didn't mean everyone to overhear, but they did. The campfire immediately turned dark purple, the same color as Piper's dream.**

**"What we do know," Rachel said, "is that the first phase has begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken."**

**Shocked silence. Then fifty demigods started talking at once.**

**Chiron pounded his hoof again, but Rachel still had to wait before she could get back their attention.**

**She told them about the incident on the Grand Canyon skywalk—how Gleeson Hedge had sacrificed himself when the storm spirits attacked, and the spirits had warned it was only the beginning. They apparently served some great mistress who would destroy all demigods.**

**Then Rachel told them about Piper passing out in Hera's cabin. Piper tried to keep a calm expression, even when she noticed Drew in the back row, pantomiming a faint,**

**"**I wish i could smack the living day light out of the chick"Piper said.

"Ohhh dont worry i think your preetyier and smarter then her"Jason then he relized what he said and turned RED just like PIper.

**and her friends giggling. Finally Rachel told them about Jason's vision in the living room of the Big House. The message Hera had delivered there was so similar that Piper got a chill. The only difference: Hera had warned Piper not to betray her: Bow to his will, and their king shall rise, dooming us all. Hera knew about the giant's threat. But if that was true, why hadn't she warned Jason, and exposed Piper as an enemy agent?**

"Yea why would she not do that," Nico said frowning, "I mean maybe she didn't think Piper would betray them, but if she does then all the-"

"Nico!" Thalia exclaimed, "Shut the hell up so we can finish this chapter."

Nico started grumbling about no one respecting his opinions, but everyone else just ignored him.

**"Jason," Rachel said. "Um … do you remember your last name?"**

**He looked self-conscious, but he shook his head.**

"Uggghh w-what happened," Travies groaned as he sat up; his head was throbbing.

"Nothing much Thalia hit you over the head and you've basically been on the floor since then," Annabeth stated.

"Yea nothing much at all," Travis grumbled while rubbing his sore head.

"Buy the way why did she hit me"

"You kept intruppting us Duuuuggggggg"thalia said.

We'll just call you Jason, then," Rachel said. "It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest."

**Rachel paused, as if giving Jason a chance to protest his destiny. Everyone's eyes were on him; there was so much pressure, Piper thought she would've buckled in his position.**

**Yet he looked brave and determined. He set his jaw and nodded. "I agree."**

**"You must save Hera to prevent a great evil," Rachel continued. "Some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don't yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now."**

**"That's the council day of the gods," Annabeth said. "If the gods don't already know Hera's gone, they will definitely notice her absence by then. They'll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That's what they usually do."**

"Wow I've met 4 year olds who get along better," Leo said.

LIghtning stormed.

**"The winter solstice," Chiron spoke up, "is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things … stir."**

**The way he said it, stirring sounded absolutely sinister—like it should be a first-degree felony, not something you did to cookie dough.**

"No offence, but this is pointless when do we get to the claiming," Travis exclaimed.

**"Okay," Annabeth said, glaring at the centaur. "Thank you, Captain Sunshine.**

**Whatever's going on, I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so—"**

**"Why hasn't he been claimed?" somebody yelled from the Ares cabin. "If he's so important—"**

**"He has been claimed," Chiron announced. "Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration."**

**At first, Jason didn't seem to understand. He stepped forward nervously, but Piper couldn't help thinking how amazing he looked with his blond hair glowing in the firelight, his regal features like a Roman statue's. He glanced at Piper, and she nodded encouragingly. She mimicked flipping a coin.**

**Jason reached into his pocket. His coin flashed in the air, and when he caught it in his hand, he was holding a lance—a rod of gold about seven feet long, with a spear tip at one end.**

"I don't mean to sound dumb-" Percy said with a frown

"Which means you probably will," Thalia interrupted with a smirk.

"But did you have a sword?" Percy asked Jason, ignoring Thalia's comment

"I'm sure the book will explain," Jason replied.

**The other demigods gasped. Rachel and Annabeth stepped back to avoid the point, which looked sharp as an ice pick.**

**"Wasn't that …" Annabeth hesitated. "I thought you had a sword."**

**"Um, it came up tails, I think," Jason said. "Same coin, long-range weapon form."**

"Conner would so love that," Travis said staring sadly at his mostly burnt brother, who was still pretty beat up on the floor. Travis made a mental not to never ever to anything to both Thalia and Nico.

**"Dude, I want one!" yelled somebody from Ares cabin.**

**"Better than Clarisse's electric spear, Lamer!" one of his brothers agreed.**

**"Electric," Jason murmured, like that was a good idea. "Back away."**

**Annabeth and Rachel got the message. Jason raised his javelin, and thunder broke open the sky. Every hair on Piper's arms stood straight up. Lightning arced down through the golden spear point and hit the campfire with the force of an artillery shell.**

**When the smoke cleared, and the ringing in Piper's ears subsided, the entire camp sat frozen in shock, half blind, covered in ashes, staring at the place where the fire had been. Cinders rained down everywhere. A burning log had impaled itself a few inches from the sleeping kid Clovis, who hadn't even stirred.**

"At least he didn't freak out," Annabeth said with a sigh.

**Jason lowered his lance. "Um … sorry."**

**Chiron brushed some burning coals out of his beard. He grimaced as if his worst fears had been confirmed. "A little overkill, perhaps, but you've made your point. And I believe we know who your father is."**

**"Jupiter," Jason said. "I mean Zeus. Lord of the Sky."**

**Piper couldn't help smiling. It made perfect sense. The most powerful god, the father of all the greatest heroes in the ancient myths—**

**no one else could possibly be Jason's dad.**

**Apparently, the rest of the camp wasn't so sure. Everything broke into chaos, with dozens of people asking questions until Annabeth raised her arms.**

**"Hold it!" she said. "How can he be the son of Zeus? The Big Three … their pact not to have mortal kids … how could we not have known about him sooner?"**

"Yes how could we not have known about him sooner," Annabeth said with a stare at Jason.

**Chiron didn't answer, but Piper got the feeling he knew. And the truth was not good.**

**"The important thing," Rachel said, "is that Jason's here now. He has a quest to fulfill, which means he will need his own prophecy."**

**She closed her eyes and swooned. Two campers rushed forward and caught her. A third ran to the side of the amphitheater and grabbed a bronze three-legged stool, like they'd been trained for this duty.**

"Of course they have we wouldn't want a repete of what happened the first time," Percy said with a grimace.

**They eased Rachel onto the stool in front of the ruined hearth. Without the fire, the night was dark, but green mist started swirling around Rachel's feet. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing. Emerald smoke issued from her mouth. The voice that came out was raspy and ancient—the sound a snake would make if it could talk:**

**"Child of lightning, beware the earth, The giants' revenge the seven shall birth, The forge and dove shall break the cage, And death unleash through Hera's rage."**

"Why couldn't it be a happy prophecy," Nico whined.

"Have you ever heard a happy prophecy?" Thalia asked calmly.

"Well no," Nico stated.

"Then why the hell were you expecting one?" Thalia snapped.

Annabeth shook her head; she was shocked to say the least. How could everyone completely ignore the prophecy it basically revealed Piper's parentage.

**On the last word, Rachel collapsed, but her helpers were waiting to catch her. They carried her away from the hearth and laid her in the corner to rest.**

**"Is that normal?" Piper asked. Then she realized she'd spoken into the silence, and everyone was looking at her. "I mean… does she spew green smoke a lot?"**

There was some laughter at that comment.

**"Gods, you're dense!" Drew sneered. "She just issued a prophecy—Jason's prophecy to save Hera! Why don't you just—"**

**"Drew," Annabeth snapped. "Piper asked a fair question. Something about that prophecy definitely isn't normal. If breaking Hera's cage unleashes her rage and causes a bunch of death … why would we free her? It might be a trap, or—or maybe Hera will turn on her rescuers. She's never been kind to heroes."**

**Jason rose. "I don't have much choice. Hera took my memory. I need it back. Besides, we can't just not help the queen of the heavens if she's in trouble."**

**A girl from Hephaestus cabin stood up—Nyssa, the one with the red bandanna. "Maybe. But you should listen to Annabeth. Hera can be vengeful. She threw her own son—our dad—down a mountain just because he was ugly."**

**"Real ugly," snickered someone from Aphrodite.**

"Some people are so rude," Piper huffed, really starting to dislike the Aphrodite cabin.

**"Shut up!" Nyssa growled. "Anyway, we've also got to think —why beware the earth? And what's the giants' revenge? What are we dealing with here that's powerful enough to kidnap the queen of the heavens?"**

**No one answered, but Piper noticed Annabeth and Chiron having a silent exchange. Piper thought it went something like:**

**Annabeth: The giants' revenge … no, it can't be.**

**Chiron: Don't speak of it here. Don't scare them.**

**Annabeth: You're kidding me! We can't be that unlucky.**

**Chiron: Later, child. If you told them everything, they would be too terrified to proceed.**

Everyone was laughing at this, seemed like Piper was good at reading people.

**Piper knew it was crazy to think she could read their expressions so well—two people she barely knew. But she was absolutely positive she understood them, and it scared the jujubes out of her.**

**Annabeth took a deep breath. "It's Jason's quest," she announced, "so it's Jason's choice. Obviously, he's the child of lightning. According to tradition, he may choose any two companions."**

**Someone from the Hermes cabin yelled, "Well, you, obviously, Annabeth. You've got the most experience."**

"Looks like you have a fan girl Annabeth," Travis said.

"any ways everybody knows that she does not go on a quest without Percy"

**"No, Travis," Annabeth said.**

"Yep and her names Travis," Thalia smirked at Travis who was blushing as everyone else laughed.

**"First off, I'm not helping Hera. Every time I've tried, she's deceived me, or it's come back to bite me later. Forget it. No way. Secondly, I'm leaving first thing in the morning to find Percy."**

**"It's connected," Piper blurted out, not sure how she got the courage. "You know that's true, don't you? This whole business, your boyfriend's disappearance—it's all connected."**

**"How?" demanded Drew. "If you're so smart, how?"**

"Someone's jealous," Nico said.

**Piper tried to form an answer, but she couldn't.**

**Annabeth saved her. "You may be right, Piper. If this is connected, I'll find out from the other end—by searching for Percy. As I said, I'm not about to rush off to rescue Hera, even if her disappearance sets the rest of the Olympians fighting again. But there's another reason I can't go. The prophecy says otherwise."**

**"It says who I pick," Jason agreed. " The forge and dove shall break the cage. The forge is the symbol of Vul—Hephaestus."**

They have to figure it out by now Annabeth though, but as she looked around the room everyone looked clueless.

**Under the Cabin Nine banner, Nyssa's shoulders slumped, like she'd just been given a heavy anvil to carry. "If you have to beware the earth," she said, "you should avoid traveling overland. You'll need air transport."**

**Piper was about to call out that Jason could fly. But then she thought better of it. That was for Jason to tell them, and he wasn't volunteering the information. Maybe he figured he'd freaked them out enough for one night.**

"Plea that would just make him awesomer," Travis scoffed.

**"The flying chariot's broken," Nyssa continued, "and the pegasi, we're using them to search for Percy. But maybe Hephaestus cabin can help figure out something else to help. With Jake incapacitated, I'm senior camper. I can volunteer for the quest."**

**She didn't sound enthusiastic.**

**Then Leo stood up. He'd been so quiet, Piper had almost forgotten he was there, which was totally not like Leo.**

**"It's me," he said.**

**His cabinmates stirred. Several tried to pull him back to his seat, but Leo resisted.**

**"No, it's me. I know it is. I've got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try. I can fix this!"**

**Jason studied him for a moment. Piper was sure he was going to tell Leo no. Then he smiled. "We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in."**

"Thanks for the pressure Jason," Leo said to Jason.

**"Yes!" Leo pumped his fist.**

**"It'll be dangerous," Nyssa warned him. "Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. Possibly none of you will come back alive."**

**"Oh." Suddenly Leo didn't look so excited. Then he remembered everyone was watching. "I mean … Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let's do this."**

Everyone laughed.

**Annabeth nodded. "Then, Jason, you only need to choose the third quest member. The dove—"**

**"Oh, absolutely!" Drew was on her feet and flashing Jason a smile. "The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours."**

"I am so not reading if Drew is going on the quest," Thalia said straight out. Annabeth was so angry, how could everyone-even the gods- be so dense.

**Piper's hands clenched. She stepped forward. "No."**

**Drew rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Dumpster girl. Back off."**

**"I had the vision of Hera; not you. I have to do this."**

**"Anyone can have a vision," Drew said.**

_Here it comes_ Annabeth thought.

**"You were just at the right place at the right time." She turned to Jason. "Look, fighting is all fine, I suppose. And people who build things …" She looked at Leo in disdain. "Well, I suppose someone has to get their hands dirty. But you need charm on your side. I can be very persuasive. I could help a lot."**

**The campers started murmuring about how Drew was pretty persuasive. Piper could see Drew winning them over. Even Chiron was scratching his beard, like Drew's participation suddenly made sense to him.**

**"Well …" Annabeth said. "Given the wording of the prophecy—"**

"No Annabeth you've succumbed to the dark side!" Travis said in mock horror.

"Travis I'm right here now shut up," Annabeth said to the now pouting Travis.

**"No!" Piper's own voice sounded strange in her ears—more insistent, richer in tone. "I'm supposed to go."**

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Everyone started nodding, muttering that hmm, Piper's point of view made sense too.**

"What the hell…." Nico said.

**Drew looked around, incredulous. Even some of her own campers were nodding.**

**"Get over it!" Drew snapped at the crowd. "What can Piper do?"**

**Piper tried to respond, but her confidence started to wane. What could she offer? She wasn't a fighter, or a planner, or a fixer. She had no skills except getting into trouble and occasionally convincing people to do stupid things.**

**Plus, she was a liar. She needed to go on this quest for reasons that went way beyond Jason—and if she did go, she'd end up betraying everyone there. She heard that voice from the dream: Do our bidding, and you may walk away alive. How could she make a choice like that—between helping her father and helping Jason?**

"Dramas of a demigod," Percy muttered to himself though if he were in that position he didn't think he would be able to pick either.

**"Well," Drew said smugly, "I guess that settles it."**

**Suddenly there was collective gasp. Everyone stared at Piper like she'd just exploded.**

**She wondered what she'd done wrong. Then she realized there was a reddish glow around her.**

**"What?" she demanded.**

**She looked above her, but there was no burning symbol like the one that appeared over Leo. Then she looked down and yelped.**

**Her clothes … what in the world was she wearing? She despised dresses.**

Everyone's mouth started opening.

"I do 2 we can be friendsd"Reyna said.

"Yes"As they high-5 each other.

**She didn't own a dress. But now she was adorned in a beautiful white sleeveless gown that went down to her ankles, with a V-neck so low it was totally embarrassing. Delicate gold armbands circled her biceps. An intricate necklace of amber, coral, and gold flowers glittered on her chest, and her hair …**

**"Oh, god," she said. "What's happened?"**

**A stunned Annabeth pointed at Piper's dagger, which was now oiled and gleaming, hanging at her side on a golden cord. Piper didn't want to draw it. She was afraid of what she would see. But her curiosity won out. She unsheathed Katoptris and stared at her reflection in the polished metal blade. Her hair was perfect: lush and long and chocolate brown, braided with gold ribbons down one side so it fell across her shoulder.**

**She even wore makeup, better than Piper would ever know how to do herself—subtle touches that made her lips cherry red and brought out all the different colors in her eyes.**

Annabeth was smug as she looked around at everyone's expression.

"Looking good Beauty Queen"Leo said.

Piper smacked Leo "DONT EVER CALL ME THAT".Jason was a little jealous he should be paying her attention.

**She was...she was...**

**"Beautiful," Jason exclaimed. "Piper, you … you're a knockout."**

Piper and Jason blushed once again.

**Under different circumstances, that would've been the happiest moment of her life. But now everyone was staring at her like she was a freak. Drew's face was full of horror and revulsion. "No!" she cried. "Not possible!"**

"I smell cat fights," Travis smirked as Piper thought about having Drew as a sibling.

**"This isn't me," Piper protested. "I—don't understand."**

**Chiron the centaur folded his front legs and bowed to her, and all the campers followed his example.**

**"Hail, Piper McLean," Chiron announced gravely, as if he were speaking at her funeral.**

**"Daughter of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of love."**

"That's the end of that chapter," Percy said.

"I cant believe it im the daugheter of Aphrodite"Piper said.

"Of course thats why your so preety Piper"Jason blushed so did Jason .


	12. Leo XI

**Hi everybody sorry about the chapter some people are saying that i stole chapter 1 from ****Euterpe'sDaughter13**** im sorry to say my friend had written that chapter and i had never checked me and ****Euterpe'sDaughter13 ****have talked it we are BFF forever and guess what to all you fat ass people for being mean to me we are bff and we are writing 1 chapter together or a story we havent decided so to get to the point chapter 1 is****Euterpe'sDaughter13**** all her hard work the rest is just me and i promise i didnt copy.I hope you enjoy chapter be expecting a story of and ********Euterpe'sDaughter13 **

* * *

Chapter Eleven

Leo XI

"Leo XI"Annabeth read.

**LEO DIDN'T STICK AROUND AFTER PIPER turned beautiful.**

"Why not … does he have a problem with beautiful people?" Connor asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's the reason!" Annabeth said sarcastically and then started reading again before he

could say anything more.

Sure, it was amazing and all— She's got makeup! It's a miracle! —

This caused the Stoll brother's to snicker.

"You know … she doesn't sound much like the other Aphrodite kids," Thalia said thoughtfully. "I mean

it's clear that she cares about more things than her appearance … actually it doesn't seem like she cares

about her appearance, that much at all."

"I know," Annabeth agreed,

"Hello guys,im sitting right here"piper called out.

**but Leo had problems to deal with. He ducked out of the amphitheater and ran into the darkness,**

**wondering what he'd gotten himself into.**

**He'd stood up in front of a bunch of stronger, braver demigods and volunteered— volunteered —**

**for a mission that would probably get him killed.**

"Well, that's what every mission is like, isn't it?" Percy sighed, for it was true for him. Every mission

that he was involved with nearly got him killed once if not multiple times.

"Some are much more dangerous than others," Annabeth pointed out. "And this one has to be just as

dangerous as any of ours and probably more so than most of them."

"Poor Leo," Percy sighed, knowing she had to be right.

**He hadn't mentioned seeing Tía Callida, his old babysitter, but as soon as he'd heard about**

**Jason's vision—the lady in the black dress and shawl—Leo knew it was the same woman.**

**Tía Callida was Hera. His evil babysitter was the queen of the gods. Stuff like that could really**

**deep-fry your brain.**

"Well, that explains why she was such a bad babysitter," Travis said. "Who would expect a god to be

good at that?"

**He trudged toward the woods and tried not to think about his childhood—all the messed-up**

**things that had led to his mother's death. But he couldn't help it.**

**The first time Tía Callida tried to kill him, he must've been about two. Tía Callida was lookin**_**g**_

**after him while his mother was at the machine shop. She wasn't really his aunt, of course—just**

**one of the old women in the community, a generic tía who helped watch the kids. She smelled like**

**a honey-baked ham,**

"Honey-baked ham?" Nico repeated with a raised eyebrow before he chuckled.

**and always wore a widow's dress with a black shawl.**

**"Let's set you down for a nap," she said. "Let's see if you are my brave little hero, eh?"**

**Leo was sleepy. She nestled him into his blankets in a warm mound of red and yellow—pillows?**

**The bed was like a cubbyhole in the wall, made of blackened bricks, with a metal slot over his**

**head and a square hole far above, where he could see the stars. He remembered resting**

**comfortably, grabbing at sparks like fireflies. He dozed, and dreamed of a boat made of fire,**

**sailing through the cinders. He imagined himself on board, navigating the sky. Somewhere**

**nearby, Tía Callida sat in her rocking chair— creak, creak, creak —and sang a lullaby. Even at**

**two, Leo knew the difference between English and Spanish, and he remembered being puzzled**

**because Tía Callida was singing in a language that was neither.**

Annabeth paused."No comments anybody"

They all shook there head no.

"wait"reyna said.

"What"everybody asked but Leo he didnt want to talk about it.

"do you think she was singing Latin"

"or greek"Conner called out.

**Everything was fine until his mother came home. She screamed and raced over to snatch him up,**

**yelling at Tía Callida, "How could you?" But the old lady had disappeared.**

**Leo remembered looking over his mother's shoulder at the flames curling around his blankets.**

**Only years later had he realized he'd been sleeping in a blazing fireplace.**

"Hm … well, doesn't that sound nice and snug!" Travis said doubtfully.

"It was"Leo answed.

**Leo remembered looking over his mother's shoulder at the flames curling around his blankets.**

**Only years later had he realized he'd been sleeping in a blazing fireplace.**

**The weirdest thing? Tía Callida hadn't been arrested or even banished from their house.**

**She appeared again several times over the next few years. Once when Leo was three, she let him**

**play with knives. "You must learn your blades early," she insisted, "if you are to be my hero**

**someday." Leo managed not to kill himself, but he got the feeling Tía Callida wouldn't have**

**cared one way or the other.**

"She probably won't have," Thalia muttered.

"I'm not sure about that," Annabeth counter, but it wasn't in defense of Hera's character, "Obviously she

believes Leo will be useful to her in the future."

**When Leo was four, Tía found a rattlesnake for him in a nearby cow pasture. She gave him a**

**stick and encouraged him to poke the animal.**

**"Okay, now that's creepy," Connor said who had no problems with the fire or knives.**

**"Where is your bravery, little hero? Show me the Fates were right to choose you." Leo stared**

**down at**

**those amber eyes, hearing the dry shh-shh-ssh of the snake's rattle. He couldn't bring**

**himself to poke the snake. It didn't seem fair. Apparently the snake felt the same way about biting**

**a little kid. Leo could've sworn it looked at Tía Callida like, Are you nuts, lady? Then it**

**disappeared into the tall grass.**

This part of the recount however had the Stoll brothers chuckling.

"I didn't know snakes thought like that." Travis laughed out loud.

**The last time she babysat him, Leo was five. She brought him a pack of crayons and a pad of**

**paper. They sat together at the picnic table in back of the apartment complex, under an old pecan**

**tree. While Tía Callida sang her strange songs, Leo drew a picture of the boat he'd seen in the**

**flames, with colorful sails and rows of oars, a curved stern, and an awesome masthead. When he**

**was almost done, about to sign his name the way he'd learned in kindergarten, a wind snatched**

**the picture away. It flew into the sky and disappeared.**

**Leo wanted to cry. He'd spent so much time on that picture—but Tía Callida just clucked with**

**disappointment.**

**A few minutes later, Leo's mom came out and shrieked with horror. Tía Callida was gone, but**

**Leo sat in the middle of a smoking fire. The pad of paper was reduced to ashes. Crayons had**

**melted into a bubbling puddle of multicolored goo, and Leo's hands were ablaze, slowly burning**

**through the picnic table. For years afterward, people in the apartment complex would wonder**

**how someone had seared the impressions of a five year-old's hands an inch deep into solid wood**.

"Oh, that wouldn't be that difficult, all they would have to do is make a cast of a five year old's hand

and then …" Travis started to say but Annabeth just started reading again.

**Now Leo was sure that Tía Callida, his psychotic babysitter, had been Hera all along.**

"She wasn't that psychotic, was she?" Nico said and several people looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"I just meant that she had known that most of those things wouldn't really have hurt him."

**That made her, what—his godly grandmother? His family was even more messed up than he**

**realized.**

**Everyone laughed at that comment, though some more wholeheartedly than others.**

**He wondered if his mother had known the truth. Leo remembered after that last visit, his mom**

**took him inside and had a long talk with him, but he only understood some of it.**

**"She can't come back again." His mom had a beautiful face with kind eyes, and curly dark hair,**

**but she looked older than she was because of hard work. The lines around her eyes were deeply**

**etched. Her hands were callused. She was the first person from their family to graduate from**

**college. She had a degree in mechanical engineering and could design anything, fix anything,**

**build anything.**

**No one would hire her.**

Annabeth huffed in indignation, knowing it had something to do with her being a woman.

**No company would take her seriously, so she ended up in the machine shop, trying to make**

**enough money to support the two of them. She always smelled of machine oil, and when she**

**talked with Leo, she switched from Spanish to English constantly—using them like**

**complementary tools. It took Leo years to realize that not everyone spoke that way. She'd even**

**taught him Morse code as a kind of game, so they could tap messages to each other when they**

**were in different rooms: I love you. You okay? Simple things like that.**

**"I don't care what Callida says," his mom told him. "I don't care about destiny and the Fates.**

**You're too young for that. You're still my baby."**

Percy sighed, he couldn't help but be reminded of his own mother who had known all along about the

gods and had never told him in a way to try to protect him. He was sure that Leo's mom had done the

same, but it seems that Leo wasn't as lucky as he was. His mind then when to when the Minotaur tried

to crush his mom and how close he was to actually losing her forever.

He felt Annabeth grab his hand at that point and he wasn't sure if she knew what he was thinking or she

supply could tell that he was upset by the way he clenched his fist. Either way, he was glad that she was

there to support him.

She took his hands, looking for burn marks, but of course there weren't any. "Leo, listen to me.

**Fire is a tool, like anything else, but it's more dangerous than most. You don't know your limits.**

**Please, promise me—no more fire until you meet your father. Someday, mijo , you will meet him.**

**He'll explain everything."**

Leo got excited at that part "I hope its in this book i want to see how my reaction to my dad is"

**Leo had heard that since he could remember. Someday he would meet his dad. His mom wouldn't**

**answer any questions about him. Leo had never met him, never even seen pictures, but she talked**

**like he'd just gone to the store for some milk and he'd be back any minute. Leo tried to believe**

**her. Someday, everything would make sense.**

**"Make sense yes, but that sense won't be all too comforting to you," Percy sighed.**

**For the next couple of years, they were happy. Leo almost forgot about Tía Callida. He still**

**dreamed of the flying boat, but the other strange events seemed like a dream too.**

**"I wonder what this flying boat is about?" Annabeth mused to herself, sure that this was going to be**

**important somehow. Hera at least had hinted that he would be building it in the future.**

**It all came apart when he was eight. By then, he was spending every free hour at the shop with**

**his mom. He knew how to use the machines. He could measure and do math better than most**

**adults. He'd learned to think three-dimensionally, solving mechanical problems in his head the**

**way his mom did.**

**One night, they stayed late because his mom was finishing a drill bit design she hoped to patent.**

**If she could sell the prototype, it might change their lives. She'd finally get a break.**

Again Percy couldn't help but draw the comparisons between his mom and Leo's and yet knew that his

mom was able to get her break, but Leo's never would.

**As she worked, Leo passed her supplies and told her corny jokes, trying to keep her spirits up. He**

**loved it when he could make her laugh. She'd smile and say, "Your father would be proud of you,**

**mijo . You'll meet him soon, I'm sure."**

**Mom's workspace was at the very back of the shop. It was kind of creepy at night, because they**

**were the only ones there. Every sound echoed through the dark warehouse, but Leo didn't mind**

**as long as he was with his mom. If he did wander the shop, they could always keep in touch with**

**Morse code taps. Whenever they were ready to leave, they had to walk through the entire shop,**

**through the break room, and out to the parking lot, locking the doors behind them.**

**That night after finishing up, they'd just gotten to the break room when his mom realized she**

**didn't have her keys**

Leo started shiviering at this part so Reyna took his hand and put her hand in it to show him that she was still there.

**"That's funny." She frowned. "I know I had them. Wait here, mijo . I'll only be a minute."**

**She gave him one more smile—the last one he'd ever get —and she went back into the warehouse.**

**She'd only been gone a few heartbeats when the interior door slammed shut. Then the exterior**

**door locked itself.**

**"Mom?" Leo's heart pounded. Something heavy crashed inside the warehouse. He ran to the**

**door, but no matter how hard he pulled or kicked, it wouldn't open. "Mom!"**

**Frantically, he tapped a message on the wall: You okay?**

**"She can't hear you," a voice said.**

**"What—what do you want? Where's my mom?"**

**"Ah … loyal to your mother. How nice. But you see, I have children too … and I understand you**

**will fight them someday. When they try to wake me, you will prevent them. I cannot allow that."**

**"I don't know you. I don't want to fight anybody."**

**She muttered like a sleepwalker in a trance, "A wise choice."**

**With a chill, Leo realized the woman was, in fact, asleep. Behind the veil, her eyes were closed.**

**But even stranger: her clothes were not made of cloth. They were made of earth —dry black dirt,**

**churning and shifting around her. Her pale, sleeping face was barely visible behind a curtain of**

**dust, and he had the horrible sense that she'd had just risen from the grave. If the woman was**

**asleep, Leo wanted her to stay that way. He knew that fully awake, she would be even more**

**terrible.**

"**I cannot destroy you yet," the woman murmured. "The Fates will not allow it. But they not do**

**protect your mother, and they cannot stop me from breaking your spirit. Remember this night,**

**little hero, when they ask you to oppose me."**

Nico grimaced at this. He couldn't help but thinking that whoever this was, was making a mistake by

this. Revenge was a strong motivator after all, and even if Leo's spirit was broken, it would be true as

well that he would want this person, whoever she was, to pay for what had happened.

**"Leave my mother alone!" Fear rose in his throat as the woman shuffled forward. She moved**

**more like an avalanche than a person, a dark wall of earth shifting toward him.**

**"How will you stop me?" she whispered.**

**She walked straight through a table, the particles of her body reassembling on the other side.**

**She loomed over Leo, and he knew she would pass right through him, too. He was the only thing**

**between her and his mother.**

**His hands caught fire.**

**A sleepy smile spread across the woman's face, as if she'd already won. Leo screamed with**

**desperation. His vision turned red. Flames washed over the earthen woman, the walls, the locked**

**doors. And Leo lost consciousness.**

Annabeth closed her else, realized what the plan had been.

… how Leo's spirits were to be broken and it was horrible.

**When he woke, he was in an ambulance.**

**The paramedic tried to be kind. She told him the warehouse had burned down. His mother**

**hadn't made it out. The paramedic said she was sorry, but Leo felt hollow. He'd lost control, just**

**like his mother had warned. Her death was his fault.**

Now Nico bowed his head, he was now the one that could empathize with Leo. After all the only

reason why his mother had to die was because the gods had thought he and his sister were dangerous to

**them. His guilty feeling was wrong … he couldn't have done anything and neither could Leo, but that**

**didn't mean there was any way he would feel better about what happened.**

**Soon the police came to get him, and they weren't as nice. The fire had started in the break room,**

**they said, right where Leo was standing. He'd survived by some miracle, but what kind of child**

**locked the doors of his mother's workplace, knowing she was inside, and started a fire?**

**Later, his neighbors at the apartment complex told the police what a strange boy he was. They**

**talked about the burned handprints on the picnic table. They'd always known something was**

**wrong with Esperanza Valdez's son.**

**His relatives wouldn't take him in. His Aunt Rosa called him a diablo and shouted at the social**

**workers to take him away. So Leo went to his first foster home. A few days later, he ran away.**

**Some foster homes lasted longer than others. He would joke around, make a few friends, pretend**

**that nothing bothered him, but he always ended up running sooner or later. It was the only thing**

**that made the pain better—feeling like he was moving, getting farther and farther away from the**

**ashes of that machine shop.**

The Stoll brother's looked at each other at this point. They hadn't lost their mother, but they too had

used jokes and pranks as ways to mask pain that they had gone through.

**He'd promised himself he would never play with fire again. He hadn't thought about Tía Callida,**

**or the sleeping woman wrapped in earthen robes, for a long time.**

**He was almost to the woods when he imagined Tía Callida's voice: It wasn't your fault, little hero.**

**Our enemy wakes. It's time to stop running.**

**"Hera," Leo muttered, "you're not even here, are you? You're in a cage somewhere."**

**There was no answer.**

**But now, at least, Leo understood something. Hera had been watching him his entire life.**

**Somehow, she'd known that one day she would need him. Maybe those Fates she mentioned could**

**tell the future. Leo wasn't sure. But he knew he was meant to go on this quest. Jason's prophecy**

**warned them to beware the earth, and Leo knew it had something to do with that sleeping**

**woman in the shop, wrapped in robes of shifting dirt.**

**Everyone shifted uncomfortably at this, not wanting to think about what this meant, especially**

Annabeth, whose mind kept reaching a dark conclusion.

**You'll find your destiny, Tía Callida had promised, and your hard journey will finally make**

**sense.**

**Leo might find out what that flying boat in his dreams meant. He might meet his father, or even**

**get to avenge his mother's death.**

**But first things first. He'd promised Jason a flying ride.**

**Not the boat from his dreams—not yet. There wasn't time to**

"Cool!" Travis said smiling, trying to instill his voice with enthusiasm, but he couldn't quite manage it.

He hesitated at the edge of the woods, peering into absolute blackness. Owls hooted, and

something far away hissed like a chorus of snakes.

Leo remembered what Will Solace had told him: No one should go in the woods alone, definitely

not unarmed. Leo had nothing—no sword, no flashlight, no help.

**He glanced back at the lights of the cabins. He could turn around now and tell everyone he'd**

**been joking. Psych! Nyssa could go on the quest instead. He could stay at camp and learn to be**

**part of the Hephaestus cabin, but he wondered how long it would be before he looked like his**

**bunkmates—sad, dejected, convinced of his own bad luck.**

**They cannot stop me from breaking your spirit , the sleeping woman had said. Remember this**

**night, little hero, when they ask you to oppose me.**

**"Believe me, lady," Leo muttered, "I remember. And whoever you are, I'm gonna faceplant you**

**hard, Leo-style."**

"Good," several voice said at the same time, and Nico nodded his head, knowing he had been right.

**He took a deep breath and plunged into the forest.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Annabeth said handing the book to Nico.


	13. Leo XII

sorry** guys for making you worry so here is a new update sry for talking a long time well enjoy and dont worry i dont care about reviews im not like those authors who says i really need them i just dont need them so enjoy ill will try on my spelling grammar**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

**Leo XII**

**Leo XII," ****Nico read.**

**THE WOODS WEREN'T LIKE ANYPLACE he'd been before. Leo had been raised in a north**

**Houston apartment complex. The wildest things he'd ever seen were that rattlesnake in the cow**

**pasture and his Aunt Rosa in her nightgown, until he was sent to Wilderness School.**

"Well the last things does sound rather terrifying," Travis said chuckling.

"How would you know, you don't know what his Aunt Rosa looks like," Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I don't need to … I'm talking Leo's word for it," Travis shrugged, still chuckling.

"And I am Very Truthful"Leo replied.

**Even there, the school had been in the desert. No trees with gnarled roots to trip over. No streams**

**to fall into. No branches casting dark, creepy shadows and owls looking down at him with their**

**big reflective eyes.**

"What's wrong with owls," Annabeth questioned with a huff.

**This was the Twilight stumbled along until he was sure no one back at the cabins could possibly see him.**

**Then he summoned fire. Flames danced along his fingertips, casting enough light to hadn't tried to keep a sustained burn going since he was five, at that picnic table. Since hismom's death,he'd been too afraid to try anything. Even this tiny fire made him feel kept walking, looking for dragon-type clues—giant footprints, trampled trees, swaths ofburning forest. Something that big couldn't exactly sneak around, right?**

"You would be suprised what can happen"Reyna said.

**But he saw nada . Once he glimpsed a large, furry shape like a wolf or a bear, but it stayed awayfrom his fire, which was fine by , at the bottom of a clearing, he saw the first trap—a hundred-foot-wide crater ringed had to admit it was pretty ingenious. In the center of the depression, a metal vat the size of a hot tub had been filled with bubbly dark liquid—Tabasco sauce and motor oil.**

"Yuummmm that sounds so yummy"Travis said said.

everybody just groaned.

"But wouldn't the dragon realize that this was a trap?" Rachel questioned, "wouldn't it be wary of

Tabasco and motor oil suddenly being in the forest?"

"Maybe, but you would be surprised how easy it is to trap someone with the lore of something that they like," Connor chuckled.

**On a pedestal suspended over the vat, an electric fan rotated in a circle, spreading the fumesacross the forest. Could metal dragons smell?The vat seemed to be unguarded. But Leo looked closely, and in the dim light of the stars and his**

_**(If you guys are wondering what im doing now is im really bored and im in my bed and im listening to Because Of You-Kelly Clarkson and its 7:45 Sry i know you guys don't care okay so back to the story)**_

**handheld fire, he could see the glint of metal beneath the dirt and leaves—a bronze net lining theentire crater. Or maybe see wasn't the right word—he could sense it there, as if the mechanismwas emitting heat, revealing itself to him.**

"well you're the son of Hephaestus so it probably is revealing itself to you"Jason said.

"Ya I was just thinking that"Piper said with her thinking face.

"Hey you guys can read each other mind,you would make a great couple"Percy said purposely to embrassas them.

Both Jason and Piper face was turning was laughing the hardest she was happy that her friend had found some happinest.

**Six large strips of bronze stretched out from the vat like the spokes of a wheel. They would bepressure sensitive, Leo guessed. As soon as the dragon stepped on one, the net would springclosed, and voilà —one gift-wrapped edged closer. He put his foot on the nearest trigger strip. As he expected, nothing had to have set the net for something really heavy. Otherwise they could catch an animal,human, smaller monster, whatever. He doubted there was anything else as heavy as a metaldragon in these woods. At least, he hoped there wasn't.**

"Well demigods are never happy"Percy everybody agreed except Leo,Piper,Frank,hazel cause they havent lived the life of a demigod yet.

**He picked his way down the crater and approached the vat. The fumes were almostoverpowering, and his eyes started watering.**

"Is your hand still on fire?" Rachel asked. "Because if so, I not sure it's such a good thing if he

approaches the oil like that."

"What does it matter, it's not like it would hurt him if the oil caught on fire," Nico pointed out.

"No … but I doubt he will be able to catch the dragon if the oil caught on fire," was Rachel's reply.

"You know im right here right"Leo asked.

**He remembered a time when Tía Callida (Hera, whatever) had made him chop jalapeños in thekitchen and he'd gotten the juice in his eyes. Serious pain. But of course she'd been like, "Endureit, little hero. The Aztecs of your mother's homeland used to punish bad children by holding themover a fire filled with chili peppers. They raised many heroes that way."**

A total psycho, that lady. Leo was so glad he was on a quest to rescue her.

"Really, don't think I would be that glad about it," Connor said chuckling, knowing that Leo's had to

have been sarcastic with his thoughts.

"She is right though, the Aztecs did do that," Annabeth said, having read about it years ago.

**Tía Callida would've loved this vat, because it was way worse than jalapeño juice. Leo looked fora trigger—something that would disable the net. He didn't see had a moment of panic. Nyssa had said there were several traps like this in the woods, andthey were planning more. What if the dragon had already stepped into another one? How couldLeo possibly find them all?**

**"Well if he could really sense the traps, maybe that could help him," Thalia continued to search, but he didn't see any release mechanism. No large button labeled off. It occurred to him that there might not be one. He started to despair—and then he heard the was more of a tremor—the deep sort of rumbling you hear in your gut rather than your ears. It gave him the jitters, but he didn't look around for the source. He just kept examining the trap,thinking, Must be a long way off. It's pounding its way through the woods. I gotta he**

**_(Sorry for the spacing this stupid fanfiction thing is messing up my spacing and it wont let me fix it)_**

**heard a grinding snort, like steam forced out of a metal barrel.**

**His neck tingled. He turned slowly. At the edge of the pit, fifty feet away, two glowing red eyes**

**were staring at him.**

"The good news, the dragon wasn't caught in another trap," Connor said.

"The bad news, he's probably going to try and eat you right now," Travis added.

"Well I'm glad that you're so concern about Leo," Rachel huffed.

"I'm sure he's going to be okay," Connor said.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"Travis just smacked him.

**The creature gleamed in the moonlight, and Leo couldn't believe something that huge had**

**sneaked up on him so fast. Too late, he realized its gaze was fixed on the fire in his hand, and he**

**extinguished the flames. He could still see the dragon just fine. It was about sixty feet long, snout to tail, its body made of**

**interlocking bronze plates. Its claws were the size of butcher knives, and its mouth was lined with**

**hundreds of dagger-sharp metal teeth. Steam came out of its nostrils. It snarled like a chain saw**

**cutting through a tree. It could've bitten Leo in half, easy, or stomped him flat. It was the most**

**beautiful thing he'd ever seen,**

"Wow you have a different meaning of beautiful"Travis said.

"Yes I do"Leo said while staring at saw this and started started laughing cause he has never seen this side of Reyna.

**except for one problem that completely ruined Leo's plan."You don't have wings," Leo said.**

"Well that does make it hard to for him to be able to fly doesn't it," Travis said.

"Unless he has jets to help him keep in the air or something like that," Connor suggested with a git inhis eyes.

**The dragon's snarl died. It tilted its head as if to say, Why aren't you running away in terror?**

**"Hey, no offense," Leo said. "You're amazing! Good god, who made you? Are you hydraulic or**

**nuclear-powered or what? But if it was me, I would've put wings on you. What kind of dragon**

**doesn't have wings? I guess maybe you're too heavy to fly? I should've thought of that."**

"Hmph, if I was the dragon I would be offended my that!" Nico huffed in mock angry. "Complaining

about his outfit … calling him fat … how insensitive can Leo get?"

"Idiot," Thalia said rolling her eyes as Nico laughed.

"Why do you guys keep forgetting im right here and you cant talk behind my back God"

Thunder rumbled "Gods sry"Leo corrected

**The dragon snorted, more confused now. It was supposed to trample Leo. This conversation**

**thing wasn't part of the plan. It took a step forward, and Leo shouted, "No!"**

**The dragon snarled again.**

**"It's a trap, bronze brain," Leo said. "They're trying to catch you."**

"I cant believer your telling the dragon that"Octavian said.

**The dragon opened its mouth and blew fire. A column of white-hot flames billowed over Leo,**

**more than he'd ever tried to endure before. He felt as if he were being hosed down with a**

**powerful, very hot fire hose. It stung a little, but he stood his ground. When the flames died, he**

**was perfectly fine. Even his clothes were okay, which Leo didn't understand, but for which he**

**was grateful.**

The Stoll brother snickered at this, though they knew they would have been laughing harder if his

clothes had been turned to ash.

"It must be like me and the water," Percy said thoughtfully, "he's subconsciously keeping his clothes

from being burned."

"He really is lucky that he's fire proof," Annabeth noted.

"I wonder if he could put his hand in the lava we use to clean dishes with?" Connor mused.

"I would think so," Annabeth answered.

**He liked his army jacket, and having his pants seared off would've been pretty embarrassing.**

**The dragon stared at Leo. Its face didn't actually change, being made of metal and all, but Leo**

**thought he could read its expression: Why no crispy critter? A spark flew out of its neck like it**

"It seems that he's able to speak to automatons easily enough," Thalia pointed out.

"But that makes sense," Annabeth said.

**"You can't burn me," Leo said, trying to sound stern and calm. He'd never had a dog before, but**

**he talked to the dragon the way he thought you'd talk to a dog. "Stay, boy. Don't come any closer.**

I** don't want you to get caught. See, they think you're broken and have to be scrapped. But I**

**don't believe that. I can fix you if you'll let me—"**

"Well that's not how I talk to my dog," Percy said.

"Sure it is Percy," Annabeth disagreed. "You tried to tell Mrs. O'Leary all kinds of things and then

wonder if she could understand a word you say."

"Whatever."

Everybody was cracking up except Percy whos face was turning Red from embarrasement .

**The dragon creaked, roared, and charged. The trap sprang. The floor of the crater erupted with**

**a sound like a thousand trash can lids banging together. Dirt and leaves flew, metal net flashing.**

**Leo was knocked off his feet, turned upside down, and doused in Tabasco sauce and oil. He found**

**himself sandwiched between the vat and the dragon as it thrashed, trying to free itself from the**

**net that had wrapped around them both.a sound like a thousand trash can lids banging together. Dirt and leaves flew, metal net flashing.**

**Leo was knocked off his feet, turned upside down, and doused in Tabasco sauce and oil. He found**

**himself sandwiched between the vat and the dragon as it thrashed, trying to free itself from the**

**net that had wrapped around them both.**

**The dragon blew flames in every direction, lighting up the sky and setting trees on fire.**

**Oil and sauce burned all over them. It didn't hurt Leo, but it left a nasty taste in his mouth.**

**"Will you stop that!" he yelled.**

**The dragon kept squirming. Leo realized he would get crushed if he didn't move. It wasn't easy,**

**but he managed to wriggle out from between the dragon and the vat. He squirmed his way**

**through the net. Fortunately the holes were plenty big enough for a skinny kid.**

**He ran to the dragon's head. It tried to snap at him, but its teeth were tangled in the mesh. It**

**blew fire again, but seemed to be running out of energy. This time the flames were only orange.**

**They sputtered before they even reached Leo's face.**

**"Listen, man," Leo said, "you're just going to show them where you are. Then they'll come and**

**break out the acid and the metal cutters. Is that what you want?"**

**The dragon's jaw made a creaking sound, like it was trying to talk.**

**"Okay, then," Leo said. "You'll have to trust me."**

**And Leo set to work.**

**It took him almost an hour to find the control panel. It was right behind the dragon's head, which**

**made sense. He'd elected to keep the dragon in the net, because it was easier to work with the**

**dragon constrained, but the dragon didn't like it.**

**"Hold still!" Leo scolded.**

**The dragon made another creaking sound that might've been a whimper.**

**Leo examined the wires inside the dragon's head. He was distracted by a sound in the woods, but**

**when he looked up it was just a tree spirit—a dryad, Leo thought they were called—putting out**

**the flames in her branches. Fortunately, the dragon hadn't started an all-out forest fire, but still**

**the dryad wasn't too pleased. The girl's dress was smoking.**

**She smothered the flames with a silky blanket, and when she saw Leo looking at her, she made a**

**gesture that was probably very rude in Dryad. Then she disappeared in a green poof of mist.**

**Leo returned his attention to the wiring. It was ingenious, definitely, and it made sense to him.**

**This was the motor control relay. This processed sensory input from the eyes. This disk …"Ha," he said. "Well, no wonder."Creak? the**

**the dragon asked with its jaw.**

"Um … what does Creak mean?" Travis asked.

"He's probably just noting the sound that the dragon made in response to what Leo said," Annabeth said

thoughtfully.

"That doesn't explain what it means," Travis grumbled.

"It probably means 'what?' or something like that," Percy guessed.

**"You've got a corroded control disk. Probably regulates your higher reasoning circuits, right?**

**Rusty brain, man. No wonder you're a little … confused." He almost said crazy , but he caught**

**say. By the time he**

**was through, his hands were black with grease and his clothes looked like he'd just lost a mudwrestling**

**contest, but the mechanisms looked a lot better. He slipped in the disk, connected the**

**last wire, and sparks flew. The dragon shuddered. Its eyes began to glow.**

**"Better?" Leo asked.**

**The dragon made a sound like a high-speed drill. It opened its mouth and all its teeth rotated.**

"Rotating teeth … interesting," Connor chuckled.

**"I guess that's a yes . Hold on, I'll free you."**

**Another thirty minutes to find the release clamps for the net and untangle the dragon, but finally**

**they crossed a stream and came to a dead end, a limestone cliff a hundred feet tall—a**

**solid, sheer mass the dragon couldn't possibly climb.**

**Festus stopped at the base and lifted one leg like a dog pointing.**

**"What is it?" Leo slid to the ground. He walked up to the cliff—nothing but solid rock.**

**The dragon kept pointing.**

**"It's not going to move out of your way," Leo told him.**

**The loose wire in the dragon's neck sparked, but otherwise he stayed still. Leo put his hand on**

**the cliff. Suddenly his fingers smoldered. Lines of fire spread from his fingertips like ignited**

**gunpowder, sizzling across the limestone. The burning lines raced across the cliff face until they**

**had outlined a glowing red door five times as tall as Leo. He backed up and the door swung open,**

**disturbingly silently for such a big slab of rock.**

"Cool!" the Stoll brother exclaimed, and everyone was looking curious.

**"Perfectly balanced," he muttered. "That's some first-rate engineering."**

**The dragon unfroze and marched inside, as if he were coming home.**

"Hm," Annabeth said thoughtfully, wondering if this was indeed the dragons home … the place that it

might have been built.

**Leo stepped through, and the door began to close. He had a moment of panic, remembering that**

**night in the machine shop long ago, when he'd been locked in. What if he got stuck in here? But**

**then lights flickered on—a combination of electric fluorescents and wall-mounted torches. When**

**Leo saw the cavern, he forgot about leaving.**

**"Festus," he muttered. "What is this place?"**

**The dragon stomped to the center of the room, leaving tracks in the thick dust, and curled up on**

**a large circular platform.**

**The cave was the size of an airplane hangar, with endless worktables and storage cages, rows of**

**garage-sized doors along either wall, and staircases that led up to a network of catwalks high**

**above. Equipment was everywhere—hydraulic lifts, welding torches, hazard suits, air-spades,**

**forklifts, plus something that looked suspiciously like a nuclear reaction chamber. Bulletin boards**

**were covered with tattered, faded blueprints.**

**And weapons, armor, shields—war supplies all over the place, a lot of them only partially**

**finished.**

**Hanging from chains far above the dragon's platform was an old tattered banner almost too**

**faded to read. The letters were Greek, but Leo somehow knew what they said:**

**bunker 9.**

**Did that mean nine as in the Hephaestus cabin, or nine as in there were eight others?**

"I hope it's the latter!" Travis said, excited again. Even if it was impossible for him to get into one, it

was still cool thinking about other hidden places like this.

**Leo looked at Festus, still curled up on the platform, and it occurred to him that the dragon**

**looked so content because it was home. It had probably been built on that pad.**

**"Do the other kids know … ?" Leo's question died as he asked it. Clearly, this place had been**

**abandoned for decades. Cobwebs and dust covered everything. The floor revealed no footprints**

**except for his, and the huge paw prints of the dragon. He was the first one in this bunker since …**

**since a long time ago. Bunker 9 had been abandoned with a lot of projects half finished on the**

**tables. Locked up and forgotten, but why?**

**Leo looked at a map on the wall—a battle map of camp, but the paper was as cracked and yellow**

**as onionskin. A date at the bottom read, 1864.**

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, wondering if this bunker had been abandon since then, around the time of

the civil war.

**"No way," he muttered.**

**Then he spotted a blueprint on a nearby bulletin board, and his heart almost leaped out of his**

**throat. He ran to the worktable and stared up at a white-line drawing almost faded beyond**

**recognition: a Greek ship from several different angles. Faintly scrawled words underneath it**

**read: prophecy? unclear. flight?**

**It was the ship he'd seen in his dreams—the flying ship.**

"Okay … that's weird," Connor said.

"Argh," Annabeth groaned in annoyance, there was so many questions now running through her mindand she had no answer to them.

**Someone had tried to build it here, or at least sketched out the idea. Then it was left, forgotten …**

**a prophecy yet to come. And weirdest of all, the ship's masthead was exactly like the one Leo had**

**drawn when he was five—the head of a dragon. "Looks like you, Festus," he murmured. "That's**

**creepy."**

"You can say that again," Connor said.

"That's creepy," Nico said, smiling as Connor rolled his eyes.

**The masthead gave him an uneasy feeling, but Leo's mind spun with too many other questions to**

**think about it for long. He touched the blueprint, hoping he could take it down to study, but the**

**paper crackled at his touch, so he left it alone. He looked around for other clues. No boats. No**

**pieces that looked like parts of this project, but there were so many doors and storerooms to**

**explore.**

**Festus snorted like he was trying to get Leo's attention, reminding him they didn't have all night.**

**It was true. Leo figured it would be morning in a few hours, and he'd gotten completely**

**sidetracked. He'd saved the dragon, but it wasn't going to help him on the quest. He needed**

**something that would fly.**

**Festus nudged something toward him—a leather tool belt that had been left next to his**

**construction pad. Then the dragon switched on his glowing red eye beams and turned them**

**toward the ceiling. Leo looked up to where the spotlights were pointing, and yelped when he**

**recognized the shapes hanging above them in the darkness.**

**"Festus," he said in a small voice. "We've got work to do."**

"That was the end of the chapter," Nico said giving the book to Rachel.

"But what was in there?" Travis asked in annoyance.

"Something that will fly I'm sure," Annabeth answered, wondering if it was a separate machine or if it

had something to do with the dragon.

* * *

**Okay guys so right now the time is...8:24 and if you read you could see that i started at 7 and guess what now the song im hearing is Everybody Talks So im sorry for thinking of discounting well enjoy.**


	14. Jason XIII

**BrookieHygua helped me with this so hope you out Dingy108.I Could have never done it without her so please give her a round of applause or give her fake Both did it and i actually took my time this time even though i have people coming over thats why this chapter is better then all the chapter cause i actually took my time and did things and thats why it turned out i wouldnt be here with out BrookieHygua so thanks you even when times were rough she kept me going thanks to all those followers.I send my love to them.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Jason XIII**

**Jason XIII," **Rachel read.

**JASON DREAMED OF WOLVES.**

"Wolves?" Thalia frowned, "why would he be dreaming of wolves?"

Reyna answerd "well the goddess whos in charge of your camp is Lupa and she is part wolf".

**He stood in a clearing in the middle of a redwood forest. In front of him rose the ruins of a stone**

**mansion. Low gray clouds blended with the ground fog, and cold rain hung in the air. A pack of**

**large gray beasts milled around him, brushing against his legs, snarling and baring their teeth.**

**They gently nudged him toward the ruins.**

**Jason had no desire to become the world's largest dog biscuit, so he decided to do what they**

**wanted.**

"Smart plan," Connor said.

"But they're wolves not dogs," Nico pointed out, "he would be a wolf biscuit."

Thalia narrowed her eyes at him for this comment, but Nico just shrugged.

**The ground squelched under his boots as he walked. Stone spires of chimneys, no longer attached**

**to anything, rose up like totem poles. The house must've been enormous once, multi-storied with**

**massive log walls and a soaring gabled roof, but now nothing remained but its stone skeleton.**

"Skeletons Creep me out"Conner whispered to smiled a creepy made Conner sudder.

"Skeletons are made of stone?" Leo asked

"Yea, they are made of stone and marble" Piper said sarcastically.

"Oh. That makes sense."

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**Jason passed under a crumbling doorway and found himself in a kind of courtyard.**

**Before him was a drained reflecting pool, long and rectangular. Jason couldn't tell how deep it**

**was, because the bottom was filled with mist. A dirt path led all the way around, and the house's**

**uneven walls rose on either side. Wolves paced under the archways of rough red volcanic stone.**

**At the far end of the pool sat a giant she-wolf, several feet taller than Jason.**

"Wow … that's a big wolf," Travis said. "Not the kind I would want to meet … or even dream about."

Shut up and let read the book, or we'll be here for days!" Katie hissed.

**Her eyes glowed silver in the fog, and her coat was the same color as the rocks—warm chocolaty**

**red.**

**"I know this place," Jason said.**

**The wolf regarded him. She didn't exactly speak, but Jason could understand her.**

"How could you understand her?" Annabeth asked.  
Jason looked up, "i can read her movements and comprehend what she is saying."

"Oh."

**The movements of her ears and whiskers, the flash of her eyes, the way she curled her lips—all of**

**these were part of her language.**

"Hm … maybe he was raised by wolves," Travis joked.

Thalia just paled at this, not liking at all that her brother just might have been raised by wolves and

wondering what kind of childhood he had.

**Of course**

**_, the she-wolf said. _****_You began your journey here as a pup. Now you must find your way_**

**back. A new quest, a new start.**

**"That isn't fair," Jason said. But as soon as he spoke, he knew there was no point complaining to**

**the she-wolf.**

**Wolves didn't feel sympathy. They never expected fairness**.

**_The wolf said: _****_Conquer or die. This is_**

**always our way.**

**Jason wanted to protest that he couldn't conquer if he didn't know who he was, or where he was**

**supposed to go. But he knew this wolf. Her name was simply Lupa, the Mother Wolf, the greatest**

**of her kind. Long ago she'd found him in this place, protected him, nurtured him, chosen him,**

**but if Jason showed weakness, she would tear him to shreds. Rather than being her pup, he**

**would become her dinner. In the wolf pack, weakness was not an option.**

"Thats a pretty harsh way, dontchya think?" Piper exclaimed. No one answered.

"Hm … I think I'm happy not to be part of the wolf pack," Travis said.

"Yeah, it doesn't sound like they get to joke around that much," Connor added.

"**Can you guide me?" Jason asked.**

**Lupa made a rumbling noise deep in her throat, and the mist in the pool dissolved.**

**At first Jason wasn't sure what he was seeing. At opposite ends of the pool, two dark spires had**

**erupted from the cement floor like the drill bits of some massive tunneling machines boring**

**through the surface. Jason couldn't tell if the spires were made of rock or petrified vines, but they**

**were formed of thick tendrils that came together in a point at the top. Each spire was about five**

**feet tall, but they weren't identical. The one closest to Jason was darker and seemed like a solid**

**mass, its tendrils fused together. As he watched, it pushed a little farther out of the earth and**

**expanded a little wider.**

**On Lupa's end of the pool, the second spire's tendrils were more open, like the bars of a cage.**

**Inside, Jason could vaguely see a misty figure struggling, shifting within its confines.**

**"Hera," Jason said.**

**The she-wolf growled in agreement. The other wolves circled the pool, their fur standing up on**

**their backs as they snarled at the spires.**

**The enemy has chosen this place to awaken her most powerful son, the giant king,**

**_Lupa said._**

"It doesnt look like Lupa likes Hera much." Leo guessed.  
"I completly agree" Annabeth growled, almost like the she-wolf

**Our sacred place, where demigods are claimed—the place of death or life.**

**The burned house. The house of the wolf. It is an abomination. You must stop her.**

"Her?" Jason was confused. "You mean, Hera?"

The she-wolf gnashed her teeth impatiently.

**_Use your senses, pup. I care nothing for Juno,_**

"Makes you kind of like the she-wolf more, doesn't it," Travis said to Thalia, who couldn't hind her

agreeing grin, even if she was still thinking about something else.

**but if she falls, our enemy wakes. And that will be the end for all of us. You know this place. You can**

**find it again. Cleanse our house. Stop this before it is too late.**

**The dark spire grew slowly larger, like the bulb of some horrible flower. Jason sensed that if it**

**ever opened, it would release something he did not want to meet.**

**"**What was it?" Katie asked suspisosly.  
Everyone shugged, while Annabeth groaned, hating the feeling of not knowing things.

**"Who am I?" Jason asked the she-wolf. "At least tell me that."**

**Wolves don't have much of a sense of humor, but Jason could tell the question amused Lupa, as i**f

**Jason were a cub just trying out his claws, practicing to be the alpha male.**

Several people laughed at this image, especially Thalia.

**You are our saving grace, as always.**

**_The she-wolf curled her lip, as if she had just made a clever_**

**joke.**

The joke had Nico laughing, as the others rolled their eyes, for everyone there now knew that he was

**Jason Grace.**

**Do not fail, son of Jupiter.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Rachel said handing the book to Thalia.


	15. Jason XIV

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Jason XIV**

**Jason XIV," **Thalia read

**JASON WOKE TO THE SOUND OF THUNDER. Then he remembered where he was. It was always thundering in Cabin One.**

Thalia made a face when she read this, she hated saw the look thalia was made after she read that sentence so he wrapped his hand over her.

**Above his cot, the domed ceiling was decorated with a blue-and-white mosaic like a cloudy sky.**

**The cloud tiles shifted across the ceiling, changing from white to black.**

**Thunder rumbled through the room, and gold tiles flashed like veins of lightning.**

"Well, that sure makes me want to go to sleep!" Travis said sarcastically.

"Yeah, there's nothing like a thunder storm to make you drowsy!" Connor added, hiding a chuckle.

"Now that you mention it,it does help me go to sleep"Jason said with a Thalia added,"If you wants some we can make it happen"Her hands lighting with electricity.

**Except for the cot that the other campers had brought him, the cabin had no regular furniture—**

**no chairs, tables, or dressers. As far as Jason could tell, it didn't even have a bathroom.**

The walls were carved with alcoves, each holding a bronze brazier or a golden eagle statue on a

**marble pedestal. In the center of the room, a twenty-foot-tall, full-color statue of Zeus in classic**

**Greek robes stood with a shield at his side and a lightning bolt raised, ready to smite somebody.**

**"Well, if the thunder and lightning doesn't get to you, I'm sure that statue is sure to make you feel right**

**at home,"** Nico shuddered. "How did you even sleep in there?"

"Not well," was the only answer that Thalia would give him.

**Jason studied the statue, looking for anything he had in common with the Lord of the Sky. Black**

**hair? Nope. Grumbly expression? Well, maybe.**

"I doubt that," Thalia countered.

"You haven't seen him in years." Rachel pointed out.

"Lies I saw him after the war"Thalia said.

Beard? No thanks. In his robes and sandals, Zeus looked like a really buff, really angry hippie.

Several people laughed at that.

"I don't think Zeus would like that, seeing as how he always wears suits now and tries to look more likea businessman," Percy chuckled.

**Yeah, Cabin One. A big honor, the other campers had told him. Sure, if you liked sleeping in a**

**cold temple by yourself with Hippie Zeus frowning down at you all night.**

**Jason got up and rubbed his neck. His whole body was stiff from bad sleep and summoning**

**lightning. That little trick last night hadn't been as easy as he had let on. It had almost made him**

**pass out.**

"Yeah, that's usually is what happens," Thalia and Nico said understandingly in unison.

**Next to the cot, new clothes were laid out for him: jeans, sneakers, and an orange Camp Half-**

**Blood shirt. He definitely needed a change of clothes, but looking down at his tattered purple**

**shirt, he was reluctant to change. It felt wrong somehow, putting on the camp shirt. He still**

**couldn't believe he belonged here, despite everything they'd told him**

**He thought about his dream, hoping more memories would come back to him about Lupa, or**

**that ruined house in the redwoods. He knew he'd been there before. The wolf was real. But his**

**head ached when he tried to remember. The marks on his forearm seemed to burn.**

"Ouch thats got to hurt" Leo commented.

**If he could find those ruins, he could find his past. Whatever was growing inside that rock spire,**

**Jason had to stop it.**

**He looked at Hippie Zeus. "You're welcome to help."**

**The statue said nothing.**

**"Thanks, Pops," Jason muttered.**

**He changed clothes and checked his reflection in Zeus's shield. His face looked watery and**

**strange in the metal, like he was dissolving in a pool of gold. Definitely he didn't look as good as**

**Piper had last night after she'd suddenly been transformed.**

**Jason still wasn't sure how he felt about that. He'd acted like an idiot, announcing in front of**

**everyone that she was a knockout.**

The Stoll brothers started snickering at the memory of that.

Jason was blushing was Piper.

**Not like there'd been anything wrong with her before. Sure, she looked great after Aphrodite**

**zapped her,**

"I Didnt think my brother would go after looks"Thalia said.

"No of course not i go after personality not beauty"Jason replied but everybody could tell he was embarrased.

**but she also didn't look like herself, not comfortable with the attention.**

"That's just not right when you're talking about a child of Aphrodite," Connor pointed out.

"Maybe, but I don't think I'm going to hold that against her," Annabeth said.

"Im right here"Piper yelled why was everyone forgetting she thought.

**Jason had felt bad for her. Maybe that was crazy, considering she'd just been claimed by a**

**goddess and turned into the most gorgeous girl at camp. Everybody had started fawning over**

**her, telling her how amazing she was and how obviously she should be the one who went on the**

**quest—but that attention had nothing to do with who she dress, new makeup, glowing pink aura, and boom : suddenly people liked her.**

**Jason felt like he understood that.**

**Last night when he'd called down lightning, the other campers' reactions had seemed familiar to**

**him. He was pretty sure he'd been dealing with that for a long time—people looking at him in**

**awe just because he was the son of Zeus, treating him special, but it didn't have anything to do**

**with him . Nobody cared about him , just his big scary daddy standing behind him with the**

**doomsday bolt, as if to say, Respect this kid or eat voltage!**

The Stoll brother laughed at his but Thalia looked thoughtful, knowing what Jason felt. Percy and Nico

looked thoughtful too, though their dad wasn't Zeus, they knew that people looked at them differently

because of their own fathers.

**After the campfire, when people started heading back to their cabins, Jason had gone up to Piper**

**and formally asked her to come with him on the quest.**

"Good I really didnt want Drew to go"Octavian was shocked that he spoke.

**She'd still been in a state of shock, but she nodded, rubbing her arms, which must've been cold in**

**that sleeveless dress.**

"REALLY" Piper just loooked up at turned and Red and signed Thalia to read.

**"Aphrodite took my snowboarding jacket," she muttered. "Mugged by my own mom."**

This had everyone laughing.

**In the first row of the amphitheater, Jason found a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders.**

"Ohhhhhhhhh"Leo Jason and Piper turn Red Jason and little more.

Reyna hit him and whispered "How would you feel if it was you and me"at that Leo fainted smilying.

Reyna was just was asking her what she said to Leo she just told them to keep reading.

**"We'll get you a new jacket," he promised.**

**She managed a smile. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, but he restrained himself. He**

**didn't want her to think he was as shallow as everyone else—trying to make a move on her**

**because she'd turned all beautiful.**

If Leo was here he would tease them.

"Something tells me she wouldn't have minded that at all," Connor said smirking.

"I'm not sure about that … she probably would have liked it better if he made a move on her when she

looked like herself so she was sure he really liked her," Rachel countered.

Both of them were so Red it looked like they got a sunburn.

Percy being his stupid self just screamed "JASON JUST ASK HER OUT"

At this Jason just took his sweatshirt and covered him-self so he wouldnt been seen.

Leo fainted and saw what happed and asked "What just happend,what did i miss just fainted for 4 min and this is what happens"

Reyna took his hand and Leo turned Tomatoe and she kissed him on the cheek "you should stop fainting then"At that Leo fainted.

**He was glad Piper was going with him on the quest. Jason had tried to act brave at the campfire,**

**but it was just that—an act.**

"Well, that's how it usually is," Percy said in understanding, having felt like that all of times in the past.

**The idea of going up against an evil force powerful enough to kidnap Hera scared him witless,**

**especially since he didn't even know his own past. He'd need help, and it felt right: Piper should**

**be with him. But things were already complicated without figuring out how much he liked her,**

**and why. **

"You Like me"Piper she didnt get the answer cause Jason was hid in his sweat-jacket"

**He'd already messed with her head enough.**

"Thats really nice of you Jason"Katie said.

"You know im very nice to"Travis said with Jealousy in his voice.

**He slipped on his new shoes, ready to get out of that cold, empty cabin. Then he spotted**

**something he hadn't noticed the night before. A brazier had been moved out of one of the alcoves**

**to create a sleeping niche, with a bedroll, a backpack, even some pictures taped to the wall.**

**Jason walked over. Whoever had slept there, it had been a long time ago. The bedroll smelled**

**musty. The backpack was covered with a thin film of dust. Some of the photos once taped to the**

**wall had lost their stickiness and fallen to the floor.**

**One picture showed Annabeth—**

"Well, that settles it; this is your little alcove!" Nico said.

"Of course it is," Thalia rolled her eyes. "I wasn't about to sleep under the watchful eyes of my dad's

statue," she added with a shudder.

**much younger, maybe eight, but Jason could tell it was she: same blond hair and gray eyes, same**

**distracted look like she was thinking a million things at once. She stood next to a sandy-haired**

**guy about fourteen or fifteen, with a mischievous smile and ragged leather armor over a T-shirt.**

**He was pointing to an alley behind them, like he was telling the photographer, Let's go meet**

**things in a dark alley and kill them! A second photo showed Annabeth and the same guy sitting at**

**a campfire, laughing hysterically.**

**Finally Jason picked up one of the photos that had fallen. It was a strip of pictures like you'd take**

**in a do-it-yourself photo booth: Annabeth and the sandy-haired guy, but with another girl**

**between them. She was maybe fifteen, with black hair—choppy like Piper's—a black leather**

**jacket, and silver jewelry, so she looked kind of goth; but she was caught mid-laugh, and it was**

**clear she was with her two best friends.**

**"That's Thalia," someone said.**

**Jason turned.**

**Annabeth was peering over his shoulder. Her expression was sad, like the picture bought back**

**hard memories.**

**"She's the other child of Zeus who lived here—but not for long. Sorry, I should've knocked."**

**"It's fine," Jason said. "Not like I think of this place as home."**

**Annabeth was dressed for travel, with a winter coat over her camp clothes, her knife at her belt,**

**and a backpack across her shoulder.**

**Jason said, "Don't suppose you've changed your mind about coming with us?"**

**She shook her head. "You got a good team already. I'm off to look for Percy."**

**Jason was a little disappointed. He would've appreciated having somebody on the trip who knew**

**what they were doing, so he wouldn't feel like he was leading Piper and Leo off a cliff.**

**"Hey, you'll do fine," Annabeth promised. "Something tells me this isn't your first quest."**

**Jason had a vague suspicion she was right, but that didn't make him feel any better**.

"Of Cource it hasnt"every roman replied.

**Everyone seemed to think he was so brave and confident, but they didn't see how lost he really**

**felt. How could they trust him when he didn't even know who he was?**

**He looked at the pictures of Annabeth smiling. He wondered how long it had been since she'd**

**smiled.**

"Since the night before Percy disappeared," Connor answered as if this was obvious.

**She must really like this Percy guy to search for him so hard, **

"Yes she loves him very much"Percy said while putting his arm on her shoulder and giving her a kisss"

**and that made Jason a little**

**envious. Was anyone searching for him right now? What if somebody cared for him that much**

**and was going out of her mind with worry, and he couldn't even remember his old life?**

Percy felt a shiver go down his spine at this thought, though he couldn't really understand way.

"I don't think Piper would like the thought of him having an old flame!" Connor said.

"Its okay im not the jealous type and i wouldnt want to be the one stealing jason cause the other girl had dips on him"Piper said sadly.

Jason wanted to punch the person who made Piper sound so sad but with a start he relized it was him.

**"You know who I am," he guessed. "Don't you?"**

**Annabeth gripped the hilt of her dagger. She looked for a chair to sit on, but of course there**

**weren't any. "Honestly, Jason … I'm not sure. My best guess, you're a loner. It happens**

**sometimes. For one reason or another, the camp never found you, but you survived anyway by**

**constantly moving around. Trained yourself to fight. Handled the monsters on your own. You**

**beat the odds."**

**"The first thing Chiron said to me," Jason remembered, "was you should be dead. "**

**"That could be why," Annabeth said. "Most demigods would never make it on their own.**

**And a child of Zeus—I mean, it doesn't get any more dangerous than that. The chances of your**

**reaching age fifteen without finding Camp Half-Blood or dying—microscopic. But like I said, it**

**does happen. Thalia ran away when she was young. She survived on her own for years. Even took**

**care of me for a while. So maybe you were a loner too."**

**Jason held out his arm. "And these marks?"**

**Annabeth glanced at the tattoos. Clearly, they bothered her. "Well, the eagle is the symbol of**

**Zeus, so that makes sense. The twelve lines—maybe they stand for years, if you'd been making**

**them since you were three years old.**

**SPQR—that's the motto of the old Roman Empire: Senatus Populusque Romanus , the Senate**

**and the People of Rome. Though why you would burn that on your own arm, I don't know.**

**Unless you had a really harsh Latin teacher …"**

**SPQR—that's the motto of the old Roman Empire: Senatus Populusque Romanus , the Senate**

**and the People of Rome. Though why you would burn that on your own arm, I don't know.**

**Unless you had a really harsh Latin teacher …"**

**Jason was pretty sure that wasn't the reason. It also didn't seem possible he'd been on his own his**

**whole life. But what else made sense? Annabeth had been pretty clear—Camp Half-Blood was**

**the only safe place in the world for demigods.**

**"I, um … had a weird dream last night," he said. It seemed like a stupid thing to confide, but**

**Annabeth didn't look surprised.**

**"Happens all the time to demigods," she said. "What did you see?"**

**He told her about the wolves and the ruined house and the two rock spires. As he talked,**

**Annabeth started pacing, looking more and more agitated.**

**"You don't remember where this house is?" she asked.**

**Jason shook his head. "But I'm sure I've been there before."**

**"Redwoods," she mused. "Could be northern California. And the she-wolf … I've studied**

**goddesses, spirits, and monsters my whole life. I've never heard of Lupa."**

**"She said the enemy was a 'her.' I thought maybe it was Hera, but—"**

**"I wouldn't trust Hera, but I don't think she's the enemy. And that thing rising out of the earth**

**—" Annabeth's expression darkened. "You've got to stop it."**

**"You know what it is, don't you?" he asked. "Or at least, you've got a guess. I saw your face last**

**night at the campfire. You looked at Chiron like it was suddenly dawning on you, but you didn't**

**want to scare us."**

**Annabeth hesitated. "Jason, the thing about prophecies …the more you know, the more you try**

**to change them, and that can be disastrous. Chiron believes it's better that you find your own**

**path, find out things in your own time. If he'd told me everything he knew before my first quest**

**with Percy… I've got to admit, I'm not sure I would've been able to go through with it. For your**

**quest, it's even more important."**

**"That bad, huh?"**

**"Not if you succeed. At least … I hope not."**

**"But I don't even know where to start. Where am I supposed to go?"**

**"Follow the monsters." Annabeth suggested.**

"Um … which monsters? There's so many monsters out there how is he supposed to know which one to

follow?" Connor asked.

"How about the ones that he already had to personally deal with in this book," Annabeth said as if this

should have been obvious and Connor smiled at her sheepishly.

**Jason thought about that. The storm spirit who'd attacked him at the Grand Canyon had said he**

**was being recalled to his boss. If Jason could track the storm spirits, he might be able to find the**

**person controlling them. And maybe that would lead him to Hera's prison.**

**"Okay," he said. "How do I find storm winds?"**

**"Personally, I'd ask a wind god," Annabeth said. "Aeolus is the master of all the winds, but he's a**

**little … unpredictable. No one finds him unless he wants to be found. I'd try one of the four**

**seasonal wind gods that work for Aeolus. The nearest one, the one who has the most dealings with**

**heroes, is Boreas, the North Wind."**

"Are you sure that's safe?" Thalia asked.

"No … but it's the only lead I can think of," Annabeth said.

**"So if I looked him up on Google maps—"**

**"Oh, he's not hard to find," Annabeth promised. "He settled in North America like all the other**

**gods. So of course he picked the oldest northern settlement, about as far north as you can go."**

**"Maine?" Jason guessed.**

**"Farther."**

**Jason tried to envision a map. What was farther north than Maine? The oldest northern**

**settlement …**

**"Canada," he decided. "Quebec."**

**Annabeth smiled. "I hope you speak French."**

"I doubt he does..." Connor said.

"He might … he speaks Latin after all and no one expected that …" Nico said.

**Jason actually felt a spark of excitement. Quebec—at least now he had a goal. Find the North**

**Wind, track down the storm spirits, find out who they worked for and where that ruined house**

**was. Free Hera. All in four days. Cake.**

"I don't know about the cake part, but I'm glad he has a goal now," Thalia nodded.

"**Thanks, Annabeth." He looked at the photo booth pictures still in his hand. "So, um … you said**

**it was dangerous being a child of Zeus. What ever happened to Thalia?"**

**"Oh, she's fine," Annabeth said.**

"Yeah, she was just turned into a tree for years, but other than that she's fine!" Connor snickered.

"Well I'm fine now," Thalia pointed out, she was better than fine, she corrected in her head.

**"She became a Hunter of Artemis—one of the handmaidens of the goddess. They roam around**

**the country killing monsters. We don't see them at camp very often."**

**Jason glanced over at the huge statue of Zeus. He understood why Thalia had slept in this alcove.**

**It was the only place in the cabin not in Hippie Zeus's line of sight. And even that hadn't been**

**enough. She'd chosen to follow Artemis and be part of a group rather than stay in this cold drafty**

**temple alone with her twenty-foot-tall dad— Jason's dad —glowering down at her. Eat voltage!**

**Jason didn't have any trouble understanding Thalia's feelings. He wondered if there was a**

**Hunters group for guys.**

**"Who's the other kid in the photo?" he asked. "The sandy-haired guy."**

**Annabeth's expression tightened. Touchy subject.**

"You can say that again." Percy muttered.

**"That's Luke," she said. "He's dead now."**

**Jason decided it was best not to ask more, but the way Annabeth said Luke's name, he wondered**

**if maybe Percy Jackson wasn't the only boy Annabeth had ever liked.**

Percy grimaced and Annabeth sighed at that comment.

"You know i Love you"Annabeth said and pecked his cheek.

**He focused again on Thalia's face. He kept thinking this photo of her was important. He was**

**missing something. Jason felt a strange sense of connection to this other child of Zeus—someone who might**

**understand his confusion, maybe even answer some questions. But another voice inside him, an**

**insistent whisper, said: Dangerous. Stay away.**

**"How old is she now?" he asked.**

**"Hard to say. She was a tree for a while. Now she's immortal."**

**"What?"**

**His expression must've been pretty good, because Annabeth laughed. "Don't worry. It's not**

**something all children of Zeus go through. It's a long story, but … well, she was out of**

**commission for a long time. If she'd aged regularly, she'd be in her twenties now, but she still**

**looks the same as in that picture, like she's about … well, about your age. Fifteen or sixteen?"**

"That's odd …" Thalia muttered to herself, thinking about Jason being the same age as her.

**Something the she-wolf had said in his dream nagged at Jason. He found himself asking, "What's**

**her last name?"**

**Annabeth looked uneasy. "She didn't use a last name, really. If she had to, she'd use her mom's,**

**but they didn't get along. Thalia ran away when she was pretty young."**

**Jason waited.**

**"Grace," Annabeth said. "Thalia Grace."**

**Jason's fingers went numb. The picture fluttered to the floor.**

"I think he's figuring it out," Connor said in a singsong voice, but Thalia didn't stop reading, wanting to hear that indeed he knew who she was to him.

**"You okay?" Annabeth asked.**

**A shred of memory had ignited—maybe a tiny piece that Hera had forgotten to steal. Or maybe**

**she'd left it there on purpose—just enough for him to remember that name, and know that**

**digging up his past was terribly, terribly dangerous.**

**You should be dead, Chiron had said. It wasn't a comment about Jason beating the odds as a**

**loner. Chiron knew something specific—something about Jason's family. The she-wolf 's words in his dream finally made sense to him, her clever joke at his expense. He**

**could imagine Lupa growling a wolfish laugh.**

**"What is it?" Annabeth pressed.**

**Jason couldn't keep this to himself. It would kill him, and he had to get Annabeth's help.**

**If she knew Thalia, maybe she could advise him.**

**"You have to swear not to tell anyone else," he said.**

**"Jason—""Swear it," he urged. "Until I figure out what's going on, what this all means—" He rubbed the**

**burned tattoos on his forearm. "You have to keep a secret." Annabeth hesitated, but her curiosity won out.**

"As it always does." Percy chuckled.

**"All right. Until you tell me it's okay, I won't share what you say with anyone else. I swear on the**

**River Styx."**

**Thunder rumbled, even louder than usual for the cabin. You are our saving Grace, the wolf had**

**snarled. Jason picked up the photo from the floor. "My last name is Grace," he said. "This is my**

**sister." Annabeth turned pale. Jason could see her wrestling with dismay, disbelief, anger. She thought he was lying. His claim**

**was impossible. And part of him felt the same way, but as soon as he spoke the words, he knew**

**they were true.**

**Then the doors of the cabin burst open. Half a dozen campers spilled in, led by the bald guy from**

**Iris, Butch. "Hurry!" he said, and Jason couldn't tell if his expression was excitement or fear.**

**"The dragon is back."**

"That was the end of the chapter," Thalia said handing the book to Connor, who was laughing at the

way this chapter had ended along with several of the others in the clearing.


	16. Piper XV

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Piper XV**

"**Piper XV," **Connor read.

"Good, I was waiting for this chapter."

"You want to read my thoughts "Piper asked.

Conner shook his head.

"Why?" Katie asked him.

"Don't you want to see how Piper is going to react with her siblings?" Connor smirked.

"I know I do," Travis said, with an identical smirk.

**PIPER WOKE UP AND IMMEDIATELY GRABBED a mirror. There were plenty of those in the**

**Aphrodite cabin. She sat on her bunk, looked at her reflection and groaned.**

"Wow, it's only been a few hours and she's already acting more like a child of Aphrodite," Nico smiled.

"Is there something wrong Nico"Piper asked glaring.

Nico who was scared just shook his head.

**She was still gorgeous.**

**Last night after the campfire, she'd tried everything. She messed up her hair, washed the makeup**

**off her face, cried to make her eyes red. Nothing worked.**

"You were saying?" Rachel said to Nico said.

"I guess I spoke too soon," he chuckled.

**Her hair popped back to perfection. The magic makeup reapplied itself. Her eyes refused to get**

**puffy or bloodshot.**

**She would've changed clothes, but she had nothing to change into. The other Aphrodite campers**

**offered her some (laughing behind her back, she was sure), but each outfit was even more**

**fashionable and ridiculous than what she had on.**

**Now, after a horrible night's sleep, still no change. Piper normally looked like a zombie in the**

**morning, but her hair was styled like a supermodel's and her skin was perfect.**

**Even that horrible zit at the base of her nose, which she'd had for so many days she'd started to**

**call it Bob, had disappeared.**

"Ah, poor Bob," Connor laughed.

**She growled in frustration and raked her fingers through her hair. No use. The do just popped**

**back into place. She looked like Cherokee Barbie.**

"The lesser known Barbie," Travis laughed.

Katie just hit him.

"You know it true"was all he said.

**From across the cabin, Drew called, "Oh, honey, it won't go away." Her voice dripped with false**

**sympathy. "Mom's blessing will last at least another day. Maybe a week if you're lucky."**

**Piper gritted her teeth. "A week ?"**

**The other Aphrodite kids—about dozen girls and five guys—smirked and snickered at her**

**discomfort.**

**Piper knew she should play cool, not let them get under her skin. She'd dealt with shallow,**

**popular kids plenty of times. But this was different. These were her brothers and sisters, even if**

**she had nothing in common with them, and how Aphrodite had managed to have so many kids so**

**close in age … Never mind. She didn't want to know.**

"She's not the love goddess for nothing," Connor snickered.

"You're one to talk, you have plenty of siblings around your age," Nico pointed out.

At that Conner shut up.

**"Don't worry, hon." Drew blotted her fluorescent lipstick. "You're thinking you don't belong**

**here? We couldn't agree more. Isn't that right, Mitchell ?"**

**One of the guys flinched. "Um, yeah. Sure."**

**"Mmm-hmm." Drew took out her mascara and checked her lashes. Everyone else watched, not**

**daring to speak. "So anyways, people, fifteen minutes until breakfast. The cabin's not going to**

**clean itself! And Mitchell, I think you've learned your lesson. Right, sweetie? So you're on**

**garbage patrol just for today, mm-kay? Show Piper how it's done, 'cause I have a feeling she'll**

**have that job soon— if she survives her quest . Now, get to work, everybody! It's my bathroom**

**time!"**

Annabeth grimaced at this. Drew was obviously using her status as counselor to bully her siblings and

she didn't think that was fair, but of course there was nothing she could do about that.

"I didn't know we could do things like that," Connor said smirking. "We should put Ryan on trash duty

from now on."

"You're just saying that because he stole your favorite shirt and ended up ripping it to shreds," Travis

said laughing.

"So …. I think that qualifies him for trash duty for life," Connor shrugged.

**Everybody started rushing around, making beds and folding clothes, while Drew scooped up her**

**makeup kit, hair dryer, and brush and marched into the bathroom.**

**Someone inside yelped, and a girl about eleven was kicked out, hastily wrapped in towels with**

**shampoo still in her hair.**

**The door slammed shut, and the girl started to cry. A couple of older campers comforted her and**

**wiped the bubbles out of her hair.**

**"Seriously?" Piper said to no one in particular. "You let Drew treat you like this?"**

**A few kids shot Piper nervous looks, like they might actually agree, but they said nothing. The campers kept working, though Piper couldn't see why the cabin needed much cleaning. It**

**was a life-size dollhouse, with pink walls and white window trim. The lace curtains were pastel**

**blue and green, which of course matched the sheets and feather comforters on all the beds.**

**The guys had one row of bunks separated by a curtain, but their section of the cabin was just as**

**neat and orderly as the girls'. Something was definitely unnatural about that. Every camper had**

**a wooden camp chest at the foot of their bunk with their name painted on it, and Piper guessed**

**that the clothes in each chest were neatly folded and color coordinated. The only bit of**

**individualism was how the campers decorated their private bunk spaces. Each had slightly**

**different pictures tacked up of whatever celebrities they thought were hot. A few had personal**

**photos, too, but most were actors or singers or whatever.**

"Argh … I think I would die if I had to be that orderly," Travis shuddered.

**Piper hoped she might not see The Poster .**

"What is The Poster?" Nico asked.

"You don't want to know"Piper answered.

**It had been almost a year since the movie, and she thought by now surely everyone had torn**

**down those old tattered advertisements and tacked up something newer. But no such luck. She**

**spotted one on the wall by the storage closet, in the middle of a collage of famous heartthrobs.**

**The title was lurid red: King of Sparta .**

"Oh … it's that one," Travis said, not particularly having any feeling towards the poster, but liking the

movie.

Piper was relieved she didn't want them to find out who her dad was, she was finally making friends she didn't want to be treated differently.** Under that, the poster showed the leading man—a three-quarters shot of bare-chested bronze**

**flesh, with ripped pectorals and sixpack abs. He was clad in only a Greek war kilt and a purple**

**cape, sword in hand. He looked like he'd just been rubbed in oil, his short black hair gleaming**

**and rivulets of sweat pouring off his rugged face, those dark sad eyes facing the camera as if to**

**say, I will kill your men and steal your women! Ha-ha!**

"I never thought of a face like that," Connor laughed, liking the description.

**It was the most ridiculous poster of all time. Piper and her dad had had a good laugh over it the**

**first time they saw it. Then the movie made a bajillion dollars. The poster graphic popped up**

**everywhere. Piper couldn't get away from it at school, walking down the street, even online. It**

**became The Poster , the most embarrassing thing in her life.**

"That's got to be weird for you … having to see a poster like that of her dad everywhere," Rachel said.

**And yeah, it was a picture of her dad.**

**She turned away so no one would think she was staring at it. Maybe when everyone went to**

**breakfast she could tear it down and they wouldn't notice. She tried to look busy, but she didn't have any extra clothes to fold. She straightened her bed,**

**then realized the top blanket was the one Jason had wrapped around her shoulders last night.**

**She picked it up and pressed it to her face. It smelled of wood smoke, but unfortunately not of**

**Jason. He was the only person who'd been genuinely nice to her after the claiming, like he cared**

**about how she felt, not just about her stupid new clothes.**

"So , you were happy with the way that he treated her," Annabeth said.

Piper and Jason just Jason had took off his Hoodie

**God, she'd wanted to kiss him, but he'd seemed so uncomfortable, almost scared of her. She**

**couldn't really blame him. She'd been glowing pink.**

"And everyone knows that just creepy," Connor snickered.

**"'Scuse me," said a voice by her feet. The garbage patrol guy, Mitchell, was crawling around on**

**all fours, picking up chocolate wrappers and crumpled notes from under the bunk beds.**

**Apparently the Aphrodite kids weren't one hundred percent neat freaks after all.**

"That's news to me," Travis said.

**She moved out of his way. "What'd you do to make Drew mad?"**

**He glanced over at the bathroom door to make sure it was still closed. "Last night, after you were**

**claimed, I said you might not be so bad."**

Annabeth grimaced more at this, to punish someone because of that was wrong.

"Drew really does keep a tight rein on everyone doesn't she," Percy frowned.

**It wasn't much of a compliment, but Piper was stunned. An Aphrodite kid had actually stood up**

**for her?**

**"Thanks," she said.**

**Mitchell shrugged. "Yeah, well. See where it got me. But for what it's worth, welcome to Cabin**

**Ten."**

**A girl with blond pigtails and braces raced up with a pile of clothes in her arms. She looked**

**around furtively like she was delivering nuclear materials.**

**"I brought you these," she whispered.**

"She probably get stuck with bathroom duty if Drew found about that," Thalia muttered.

**"Piper, meet Lacy," Mitchell said, still crawling around on the floor.**

**"Hi," Lacy said breathlessly. "You can change clothes. The blessing won't stop you. This is just,**

**you know, a backpack, some rations, ambrosia and nectar for emergencies, some jeans, a few**

**extra shirts, and a warm jacket. The boots might be a little snug. But—well—we took up a**

**collection. Good luck on your quest!"**

"Hm … I wonder how many people in the cabin might actually like Piper?" Leo asked but no onecould knew about that.

"Im a very lovable person"piper said.

Everyone looked at her.

"Fine I will prove it to you"

She stood up and walked to Leo.

Leo give me a hug,and Leo came up to her and gave her a hug.

"Told You"she said.

After sitting back didn't know she used charm-speak.

Jason was beyond jealous but he sat down wasn't jealous cause she knew Piper didn't like Leo like that and Leo didn't liker her like that she could see it was brotherly and sisterly love.

Before Piper told Leo to give her a hug she met Reyna eyes and asked silently,and Reyna there was no need for her to be jealous.

**Lacy dumped the things on the bed and started to hurry away, but Piper caught her arm. "Hold**

**on. At least let me thank you! Why are you rushing off?"**

**Lacy looked like she might shake apart from nervousness. "Oh, well—"**

**"Drew might find out," Mitchell explained.**

**"I might have to wear the shoes of shame!" Lacy gulped.**

"Shoes of shame?" Travis repeated, looking amused.

**"The what?" Piper asked.**

**Lacy and Mitchell both pointed to a black shelf mounted in the corner of the room, like an altar.**

**Displayed on it were a hideous pair of orthopedic nurse's shoes, bright white with thick soles.**

"Oh no! How could anyone wear those awful things!" Travis exclaimed in much horror.

"It's probably the worst form of torture for a child of Aphrodite," Annabeth pointed out.

"That's just lame," Hazel rolled her eyes, knowing that Annabeth was right.

**"I had to wear them for a week once," Lacy whimpered. "They don't go with anything !"**

**"And there're worse punishments," Mitchell warned. "Drew can charmspeak, see? Not many**

**Aphrodite kids have that power; but if she tries hard enough, she can get you to do some pretty**

**embarrassing things. Piper, you're the first person I've seen in a long time who is able to resist**

**her."**

**"Charmspeak …" Piper remembered last night, the way the crowd at the campfire had swayed**

**back and forth between Drew's opinion and hers. "You mean, like, you could talk someone into**

**doing things. Or … giving you things. Like a car?"**

"So Piper you can charmspeak too," Thalia said and Annabeth nodded her head.

"That explains how you got people to do whatever you wanted," she added.

"Piper was shocked"

**"Oh, don't give Drew any ideas!" Lacy gasped.**

**"But yeah," Mitchell said. "She could do that."**

**"So that's why she's head counselor," Piper said. "She convinced you all?"**

**Mitchell picked a nasty wad of gum from under Piper's bed. "Nah, she inherited the post when**

**Silena Beauregard died in the war. Drew was second oldest. Oldest camper automatically gets the**

**post, unless somebody with more years or more completed quests wants to challenge, in which**

**case there's a duel, but that hardly ever happens.**

"Annabeth, who did you get to be the counselor?" Nico asked. "Did you challenged the previous

counselor or something?"

"No … he was killed," Annabeth frowned. "It wasn't long before Percy had gotten here. I was in the

cabin the longest at that point, but Malcolm was the oldest. Chiron allowed us to play a game of

capture the flag between the our cabin alone. We split up the teams evenly and had a full day to plan

out our strategy. I won, so I was made the counselor and Malcolm agree to be my second in command

and to take over if anything had happened to me."

**Anyway, we've been stuck with Drew in charge since August. She decided to make some, ah,**

**changes in the way the cabin is run."**

**"Yes, I did!" Suddenly Drew was there, leaning against the bunk. Lacy squeaked like a guinea**

**pig and tried to run,**

"I'm sure you could imagine exactly how that sounded like, ah Annabeth," Travis said, smirking at

Percy, who rolled his eyes, trying not to be effected by the reminder of being a guinea pig.

**trash, sweetie. You'd better make another pass."**

**Piper glanced toward the bathroom and saw that Drew had dumped everything from the**

**bathroom waste bin—some pretty nasty things—all over the floor.**

"I think he should pick Drew up and throw her out of the cabin," Thalia grumbled, which causing

several people to laugh.

**Mitchell sat up on his haunches. He glared at Drew like he was about to attack (which Piper**

**would've paid money to see), but finally he snapped, "Fine."**

"Too bad," Thalia sighed.

**Drew smiled. "See, Piper, hon, we're a good cabin here. A good family! Silena Beauregard,**

**though … you could take a warning from her. She was secretly passing information to Kronos in**

**the Titan War, helping the enemy ."**

Everyone grimaced at that. This of course was true and lead to horrible things, but that didn't stop them

from being angry with Drew for saying this.

**Drew smiled all sweet and innocent, with her glittery pink makeup and her blow-dried hair lush**

**and smelling like nutmeg. She looked like any popular teenage girl from any high school. But her**

**eyes were as cold as steel. Piper got the feeling Drew was looking straight into her soul, pulling**

**out her secrets.**

**Helping the ****enemy.**

**"Oh, none of the other cabins talk about it," Drew confided. "They act like Silena Beauregard**

**was a hero."**

**"Mmm-hmm," Drew said. "Another day on garbage patrol, Mitchell. But anyways , Silena lost**

**track of what this cabin is about. We match up cute couples at camp! Then we break them apart**

**and start over! It's the best fun ever.**

"That's horrible," Rachel said. "How could that be fun?"

"I don't know, but if any of the Aphrodite campers come near us, they'll regret it," Annabeth huffed,

looking at Percy pointedly.

**We don't have any business getting involved in other stuff like wars and quests. I certainly**

**haven't been on any quests. They're a waste of time!"**

"Um … didn't she just volenteer?" Thalia said, finding that Drew sounded even stupider than normal

saying that.

**Lacy raised her hand nervously. "But last night you said you wanted to go on a—"**

**Drew glared at her, and Lacy's voice died.**

**"Most of all," Drew continued, "we certainly don't need our image tarnished by spies, do we,**

**Piper ?"**

**Piper tried to answer, but she couldn't. There was no way Drew could know about her dreams or**

**her dad's kidnapping, was there? "It's too bad you won't be around," Drew sighed. "But if you survive your little quest, don't**

**worry, I'll find somebody to match up with you. Maybe one of those gross Hephaestus guys. Or**

**Clovis? He's pretty repulsive." Drew looked her over with a mix of pity and disgust. "Honestly, I**

**didn't think it was possible for Aphrodite to have an ugly child, but … who was your father? Was**

**he some sort of mutant, or—""Tristan McLean," Piper snapped.**

* * *

**_I Forgot If The Demigods Know that it was her dad,So from here im gonna make them find If i already did im sorry that im repeating it._**

* * *

Everyone was couldnt show her face she looked someone took her hand she looked up and saw it was Jason.

"Piper we dont care who your dad is"Jason was shocked.

"I like you for who you are"Jason said.

Then Leo coughed up you mean "We"

Jason blushed and said 'We"

**had driven her over the edge. "My dad's Tristan McLean."**

**The stunned silence was gratifying for a few seconds, but Piper felt ashamed of herself.**

**Everybody turned and looked at The Poster , her dad flexing his muscles for the whole world to**

**see.**

Everyone laughed even harder at the predictable, and yet still funny reaction by the others.

**"Oh my god!" half the girls screamed at once.**

**"Sweet!" a guy said. "The dude with the sword who killed that other dude in that movie?"**

"That guy sounds so brilliant," Travis said sarcastically as Annabeth made a face at that comment.

**"He is so hot for an old guy," a girl said, and then she blushed. "I mean I'm sorry. I know he's**

**your dad . That's so weird!"**

**"It's weird, all right," Piper agreed.**

**"Do you think you could get me his autograph?" another girl asked.**

"Well this will just make Drew like her even more," Thalia said smirking evilly.

It was giving everybody the creeps.** Piper forced a smile. She couldn't say, If my dad survives …**

**"Yeah, no problem," she managed.**

**The girl squealed in excitement, and more kids surged forward, asking a dozen questions at once.**

Connor voice was becoming more and more amused as he read the reaction of the Piper's siblings,

agreeing with Clarisse comment about Drew and hoping something more would come of that.

**"Have you ever been on the set?"**

**"Do you live in a mansion?"**

**"Do you have lunch with movie stars?"**

**"Have you had your rite of passage?"**

**That one caught Piper off guard. "Rite of what?" she asked. The girls and guys giggled and shoved each other around like this was an embarrassing topic.**

**"The rite of passage for an Aphrodite child," one explained. "You get someone to fall in love with**

**you. Then you break their heart. Dump them. Once you do that, you've proven yourself worthy**

**of Aphrodite."**

"That's horrible," Annabeth huffed.

"OMG"Piper said.

Everybody just looked at her.

"that's horrible why would you do that,cause you know you 1st love is the best one of them all"everybody just looked at her.

"wow I don't know where that came from"Piper said and looked down blushing.** Piper stared at the crowd to see if they were joking. "Break someone's heart on purpose? That's**

**terrible!"**

**The others looked confused.**

**"Why?" a guy asked.**

**"Oh my god!" a girl said. "I bet Aphrodite broke your dad's heart! I bet he never loved anyone again, did he? That's so romantic! When you have your rite of passage, you can be just like Mom!"**

Thalia grimaced at that, right now Piper currently liked Jason …

"I don't think Piper is going to do this … she not going to try to break anyone's heart on purpose,"

Annabeth said, her tone was harsher than she wanted it to be because of what Connor had said, but she

could tell what Thalia was thinking at the same time.

"You're right," Thalia agreed, though still felt uncomfortable about this.

Piper knew what they were thinking then she yelled "I would never do that to anyone just to prove a point" that reassured Thalia,and thalia came up to Piper and gave her a hug

She whispered."I know you don't s seem like that take care of him okay"

Piper was confused at that and thalia just laughed.

**"Forget it!" Piper yelled, a little louder than she'd intended. The other kids backed away. "I'm**

**not breaking somebody's heart just for a stupid rite of passage!"**

**Which of course gave Drew a chance to take back control. "Well, there you go!" she cut in.**

**"Silena said the same thing. She broke the tradition, fell in love with that Beckendorf boy, and**

**stayed in love. If you ask me, that's why things ended tragically for her."**

Katie was growling at Drew's conclusion.

**"That's not true!" Lacy squeaked, but Drew glared at her, and she immediately melted back into**

**the crowd.**

**"Hardly matters," Drew continued, "because, Piper, hon, you couldn't break anyone's heart**

**anyway. And this nonsense about your dad being Tristan McLean—that's so begging for**

**attention."**

**Several of the kids blinked uncertainly.**

**"You mean he's not her dad?" one asked.**

"I bet she's charmspeaking them now," Annabeth grumbled under her breath.

**Drew rolled her eyes. "Please. Now, it's time for breakfast, people, and Piper here has to start**

**that little quest. So let's get her packed and get her out of here!"**

**Drew broke up the crowd and got everyone moving. She called them "hon" and "dear," but her**

**tone made it clear she expected to be obeyed. Mitchell and Lacy helped Piper pack. They even**

**guarded the bathroom while Piper went in and changed into a better traveling outfit. The handme-**

**downs weren't fancy—thank god—just well-worn jeans, a T-shirt, a comfortable winter coat, and hiking boots that fit perfectly. She strapped her dagger, Katoptris, to her belt.**

**When Piper came out, she felt almost normal again. The other campers were standing at their**

**bunks while Drew came around and inspected. Piper turned to Mitchell and Lacy and mouthed,**

**Thank you . Mitchell nodded grimly. Lacy flashed a full-braces smile.**

**Piper doubted Drew had ever thanked them for anything. She also noticed that the King of**

**Sparta poster had been wadded up and thrown in the trash. Drew's orders, no doubt.**

"Obviously Drew believe that Tristan is Piper's dad," Annabeth said, that being the only reason why the

poster would be taken down.

**Even though Piper had wanted to take the poster down herself, now she was totally steamed.**

**When Drew spotted her, she clapped in mock applause. "Very nice! Our little quest girl all**

**dressed in Dumpster clothes again. Now, off you go! No need to eat breakfast with us. Good luck**

**with … whatever. Bye!"**

"Hm … Drew playing her hand too much," Annabeth shook her head and when everyone looked at her

confused she simply said, "she's obviously threatened by Piper and is trying to break her spirit so that

she won't trying to stand up against her."

**Piper shouldered her bag. She could feel everyone else's eyes on her as she walked to the door.**

**She could just leave and forget about it. That would've been the easy thing. What did she care**

**about this cabin, these shallow kids?**

**Except that some of them had tried to help her. Some of them had even stood up to Drew for her.**

**She turned at the door. "You know, you all don't have to follow Drew's orders."** "See … if Drew hadn't challenged her so much, Piper never would have said anything," Annabeth said.

**The other kids shifted. Several glanced at Drew, but she looked too stunned to respond.**

**"Umm," one managed, "she's our head counselor."**

**"She's a tyrant," Piper corrected. "You can think for yourselves. There's got to be more to**

**Aphrodite than this ."**

**"More than this," one kid echoed.**

**"Think for ourselves," a second muttered.**

**"People!" Drew screeched. "Don't be stupid! She's charm-speaking you."**

**"No," Piper said. "I'm just telling the truth."**

"Hm … I wonder if she was?" Annabeth mumbled to herself, but this wasn't a question that could be

answered.

**At least, Piper thought that was the case. She didn't understand exactly how this charmspeaking**

**business worked, but she didn't feel like she was putting any special power into her words. She**

**didn't want to win an argument by tricking people. That would make her no better than Drew.**

**Piper simply meant what she said. Besides, even if she tried charmspeaking, she had a feeling it**

**wouldn't work very well on another charmspeaker like Drew. Drew sneered at her. "You may have a little power, Miss Movie Star. But you don't know the first**

**thing about Aphrodite. You have such great ideas? What do you think this cabin is about, then?**

**Tell them. Then maybe I'll tell them a few things about you , huh?"**

**Piper wanted to make a withering retort, but her anger turned to panic. She was a spy for the**

**enemy, just like Silena Beauregard. An Aphrodite traitor. Did Drew know about that, or was she**

**bluffing? Under Drew's glare, her confidence began to crumble.**

**"Not this," Piper managed. "Aphrodite is not about this."**

**Then she turned and stormed out before the others could see her blushing.**

**Behind her, Drew started laughing. " Not this ? Hear that, people? She doesn't have a clue!" Piper promised herself she would never ever go back to that cabin. She blinked away her tears**

**and stormed across the green, not sure where she was going—until she saw the dragon swooping**

**down from the sky.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Connor said handing the book to Travis.


	17. Piper XVI

**Hey Guys sry for a long time I hop you're enjoying today im gonna start with a quote.**

_***walks into a room***_

_**"why am I here?"**_

_***Now i remember***_

_**-that was from teenage post**_

**Enjoy**

* * *

**Piper XVI**

**Chapter Sixteen**

"**Piper XVI," **Travis read.

**"LEO?" SHE YELLED.**

"It looks like I get the chapter with everyone's reaction to Festus! Travis smiled.

**Sure enough, there he was, sitting atop a giant bronze death machine and grinning like a lunatic.**

**Even before he landed, the camp alarm went up. A conch horn blew. All the satyrs started**

**screaming, "Don't kill me!"**

everybody laughed they couldnt help it.

"Grover would not be happy"Percy said chuckling.

**Half the camp ran outside in a mixture of pajamas and armor. The dragon set down right in the**

**middle of the green, and Leo yelled, "It's cool! Don't shoot!"**

"Um … I'm not sure that's would make me relax," Connor said. "Not when the dragon has been known

to be on the loose."

**Hesitantly, the archers lowered their bows. The warriors backed away, keeping their spears and**

**swords ready. They made a loose wide ring around the metal monster.**

**Other demigods hid behind their cabin doors or peeped out the windows. Nobody seemed anxious**

**to get close.**

"I wonder why?" Travis said sarcastically.

**Piper couldn't blame them. The dragon was huge. It glistened in the morning sun like a living**

**penny sculpture —different shades of copper and bronze—a sixty-foot-long serpent with steel**

**talons and drill-bit teeth and glowing ruby eyes. It had bat-shaped wings twice its length that**

**unfurled like metallic sails, making a sound like coins cascading out of a slot machine every time**

**they flapped.**

"So there were wings in that bunker!" Thalia said.

**"It's beautiful," Piper muttered. The other demigods stared at her like she was insane.**

"I can imagine that," Percy chuckled. "But I can see what she means too. There is a certain beauty to

the dragon even if he is terrifying."

"I know what Piper means It is Beautiful "Leo answerd.

"Yep"Piper answered.

Jason got jealous it was pretty funny. Reyna whisper something in Jason ear which made Jason blush.

Leo got all angry and jealous he wrapped his arms around Reyna to saw she's all mine all mine. At That All the girls started cracking up and also Piper.

Piper wasn't and also was the jealous type but who was she to do anything.

While Piper was cracking up and Jason was asked

"What did you say to Jason?"

"Ohh I told him there is nothing to get jealous of Leo and Pipers bonding moment cause they don't like each other it's a brotherly sisterly kind of of Love."Reyna said while still laughing.

Now Jason and Piper were Red.

"Is it getting Hot outside or is it just me "Jason asked.

"Its Night now and its probably just you"Frank answer.

"Lets get back to reading"Jason answerd.

**The dragon reared its head and shot a column of fire into the sky. Campers scrambled away and**

**hefted their weapons, but Leo slid calmly off the dragon's back. He held up his hands like he was**

**surrendering, except he still had that crazy grin on his face.**

**"People of Earth, I come in peace!"**

The Stoll brothers and Nico laughed at this as others smiled.

**he shouted. He looked like he'd been rolling around in the campfire. His army coat and his face**

**were smeared with soot. His hands were grease-stained, and he wore a new tool belt around his**

**waist. His eyes were bloodshot. His curly hair was so oily it stuck up in porcupine quills, and he**

**smelled strangely of Tabasco sauce.**

"He needs a good claiming by Aphrodite to clean him up!" Travis said.

**But he looked absolutely delighted. "Festus is just saying hello!"**

**"That thing is dangerous!" an Ares girl shouted, brandishing her spear. "Kill it now!" **

**Stand down!" someone ordered.**

**To Piper's surprise, it was Jason.**

"Why would you be surprised "Octavian asked.

Everyone is in shock how nice he became.

"I don't know im reading the book like you "Piper answer with a shrug.

**Nyssa.**

**Jason gazed up at the dragon and shook his head in amazement. "Leo, what have you done?"**

**"Found a ride!" Leo beamed. "You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, I got you**

**a class-A metallic flying bad boy! Festus can take us anywhere!"**

**"It—has wings," Nyssa stammered. Her jaw looked like it might drop off her face.**

"Well f, I'm glad her eyesight is working," Connor snickered at Nyssa's reaction to the dragon.

**"Yeah!" Leo said. "I found them and reattached them."**

**"But it never had wings. Where did you find them?"**

**Leo hesitated, and Piper could tell he was hiding something.**

**"In … the woods," he said. "Repaired his circuits, too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire."**

**"Mostly?" Nyssa asked.**

**The dragon's head twitched. It tilted to one side and a stream of black liquid—maybe oil,**

**hopefully just oil—poured out of its ear, all over Leo.**

"Nice!" Travis laughed.

"Just what he needed, an oil shower!" Connor added, laughing.

"Yep,I love oil showers"Leo answed

**"Just a few kinks to work out," Leo said.**

**"But how did you survive … ?" Nyssa was still staring at the creature in awe. "I mean, the fire**

**breath …"**

**"I'm quick," Leo said. "And lucky. Now, am I on this quest, or what?"**

"He forgot to mention that he was fire-proof," Nico said.

"I don't think he forgot," Annabeth frowned. "He doesn't want them to know."

"Duggggggggggggggg"Leo said.

**Jason scratched his head. "You named him Festus? You know that in Latin, 'festus' means**

**'happy'? You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?"**

"I don't see anything wrong with that!" Nico laughed.

"thank you someone who understands me"Leo raised his hands in the air.

**The dragon twitched and shuddered and flapped his wings.**

**"That's a yes, bro!" Leo said. "Now, um, I'd really suggest we get going, guys. I already picked**

**up some supplies in the—um, in the woods. And all these people with weapons are making Festus**

**nervous." Jason frowned. "But we haven't planned anything yet. We can't just—"**

**"Go," Annabeth said. She was the only one who didn't look nervous at all. Her expression was**

**sad and wistful, like this reminded her of better times.**

"Thinking about the time when we fought against the dragon?" Percy asked her.

"Probably," Annabeth agreed. "And probably about some of the quests that we went on together."

**"Jason, you've only got three days until the solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous**

**dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen. Go!"**

**Jason nodded. Then he smiled at Piper. "You ready, partner?"**

**Piper looked at the bronze dragon wings shining against the sky, and those talons that could've**

**shredded her to pieces.**

**"You bet," she said.**

**_Flying on the dragon was the most amazing experience ever, _****Piper thought.**

**Up high, the air was freezing cold; but the dragon's metal hide generated so much heat, it was**

**like they were flying in a protective bubble. Talk about seat warmers! And the grooves in the**

**dragon's back were designed like high-tech saddles, so they weren't uncomfortable at all. Leo**

**showed them how to hook their feet in the chinks of the armor, like in stirrups, and use the**

**leather safety harnesses cleverly concealed under the exterior plating. They sat single file: Leo in**

**front, then Piper, then Jason, and Piper was very aware of Jason right behind her. She wished he**

**would hold on to her, maybe wrap his arms around her waist; but sadly, he didn't.**

"Tough luck," Connor said, snapping his fingers in mock disappointment for her.

"thanks conner I really need that "Piper said.

"Do you want a hug"conner asked smirking.

At that Jason wrapped his arms around Piper and she turned Red.

"Awwww he got there first "Conner fake whined.

**Leo used the reins to steer the dragon into the sky like he'd been doing it all his life. The metal**

**wings worked perfectly, and soon the coast of Long Island was just a hazy line behind them. They**

**shot over Connecticut and climbed into the gray winter clouds.**

**Leo grinned back at them. "Cool, right?"**

**"What if we get spotted?" Piper asked.**

**"The Mist," Jason said. "It keeps mortals from seeing magic things. If they spot us, they'll**

**probably mistake us for a small plane or something."**

**Piper glanced over her shoulder. "You sure about that?"**

**"No," he admitted. Then Piper saw he was clutching a photo in his hand—a picture of a girl with**

**dark hair.**

Thalia was getting excited this the part where she came in.

Nico saw this on his girlfriends face and started cracking up quietly.

**She gave Jason a quizzical look, but he blushed and put the photo in his pocket. "We're making**

**good time. Probably get there by tonight."**

**Piper wondered who the girl in the picture was, but she didn't want to ask; and if Jason didn't**

**volunteer the information, that wasn't a good sign. Had he remembered something about his life**

**before? Was that a photo of his real girlfriend?**

"YOur jealous of PIper," Connor laughed and Thalia rolled her eyes. She was thinking about why Jason had taken the picture and wondering if it was some kind of comfort to him.

" I am no the jealous type"Piper said.

Jason started cracking up.

**Stop it, she thought. You'll just torture yourself.**

**She asked a safer question. "Where are we heading?"**

**"To find the god of the North Wind," Jason said. "And chase some storm spirits."**

"That's the end of the chapter," Travis said.

* * *

**I hate to be those types of Authors who ask for review but can i please have 5 reviews the first 5 review person gets a shoutout in the next chapter.**


	18. Leo XVII

**Sorry I know i was suppose to give shout out's but there are so many of you I dont know which one to all of You deserve a I helped by the most Beautiful and best person I know and i think who's a really good author BrookieHyuga.**

* * *

**Leo XVII**

**Chapter Seventeen**

"**Leo XVII," **Katie read.

**LEO WAS TOTALLY BUZZING.**

"It must be annoying to be around him if he was buzzing," Nico said.

**The expression on everyone's faces when he flew the dragon into camp? Priceless!**

"I bet they are ," Connor laughed.

"You do realize that you're face would be among the priceless ones, right," Thalia pointed out him.

**He thought his cabinmates were going to bust a lug nut.**

**Festus had been awesome too. He hadn't blowtorched a single cabin or eaten any satyrs,**

**even if he did dribble a little oil from his ear. Okay, a lot of oil. Leo could work on that later. So maybe Leo didn't seize the chance to tell everybody about Bunker 9 or the flying boat design.**

**He needed some time to think about all that. He could tell them when he came back.**

**_If I come back, _****part of him thought.**

**Nah, he'd come back. He'd scored a sweet magic tool belt from the bunker, plus a lot of cool**

**supplies now safely stowed in his backpack. Besides, he had a fire-breathing, only slightly leaky**

**dragon on his side. What could go wrong?****Well, the control disk could bust, the bad part of him suggested. Festus could eat you.**

"Thats a cheerful thought" Connor grumbled.

**It would just have to hold together.**

**His bad side started to think, Yeah, but what if—**

**"Shut up, me," Leo said aloud.**

Several people snickered at this comment.

**"What?" Piper asked.**

**"Nothing," he said. "Long night. I think I'm hallucinating. It's cool."**

A few people looked at Leo weirdly.

"Do you 'want' them to think you're crazy?

"We already think that" Jason and Piper laughed.

**Sitting in front, Leo couldn't see their faces, but he assumed from their silence that his friends**

**were not pleased to have a sleepless, hallucinating dragon driver.**

"I don't know what their problem is, that sounds like the perfect guide to me," Connor laughed.

"Thanks Conner"

**"Just joking." Leo decided it might be good to change the subject. "So what's the plan, bro? You**

**said something about catching wind, or breaking wind, or something?"**

**As they flew over New England, Jason laid out the game plan: First, find some guy named Boreas**

**and grill him for information—**

**"His name is Boreas ?" Leo had to ask. "What is he, the God of Boring?"**

**Second, Jason continued, they had to find those venti that had attacked them at the Grand**

**Canyon—**

**"Can we just call them storm spirits?" Leo asked. " Venti makes them sound like evil espresso**

**drinks."**

More laughter at this.

**And third, Jason finished, they had to find out who the storm spirits worked for, so they could****find Hera and free her."If they didn't i wouldnt be here."**

Annabeth scooted closer to Percy and kissed him.

**"So you want to look for Dylan, the nasty storm dude, on purpose ," Leo said. "The guy who**

**threw me off the skywalk and sucked Coach Hedge into the clouds."**

**"That's about it," Jason said. "Well … there may be a wolf involved, too. But I think she's**

**friendly. She probably won't eat us, unless we show weakness."**

"Yeah, Lupa won't kill you. She's pretty friendly."Jason.

**Jason told them about his dream—the big nasty mother wolf and a burned-out house with stone**

**spires growing out of the swimming pool.**

**"Uh-huh," Leo said. "But you don't know where this place is."**

**"Nope," Jason admitted.**

**"There's also giants," Piper added. "The prophecy said the giants' revenge ."**

**"Hold on," Leo said. "Giants—like more than one? Why can't it be just one giant who wants**

**revenge?" "I don't think so," Piper said. "I remember in some of the old Greek stories, there was something**

**about an army of giants."**

**"Great," Leo muttered. "Of course, with our luck, it's an army. So you know anything else about**

**these giants? Didn't you do a bunch of myth research for that movie with your dad?"**

"Sore subject?" Katie asked, after seeing Pipers sullen face.

She didnt answer, which was Katies answer.

**"Your dad's an actor?" Jason asked.**

**Leo laughed. "I keep forgetting about your amnesia. Heh. Forgetting about amnesia. That's**

**funny.**

Nico indeed found that funny judging by his laughter.

**But yeah, her dad's Tristan McLean."**

**"Uh—Sorry, what was he in?"**

**"It doesn't matter," Piper said quickly. "The giants—well, there were lots of giants in Greek**

**mythology. But if I'm thinking of the right ones, they were bad news. Huge, almost impossible to**

**kill. They could throw mountains and stuff. I think they were related to the Titans. They rose**

**from the earth after Kronos lost the war—I mean the first Titan war, thousands of years ago—**

**and they tried to destroy Olympus. If we're talking about the same giants—"**

**"Chiron said it was happening again," Jason remembered. "The last chapter. That's what he**

**meant. No wonder he didn't want us to know all the details." Leo whistled. "So … giants who can throw mountains. Friendly wolves that will eat us if we show**

**weakness. Evil espresso drinks. Gotcha. Maybe this isn't the time to bring up my psycho babysitter**.

""What?!" everyone asked/yelled.  
Leo shrugged. "It'll probably explain."

**"Is that another joke?" Piper asked.**

**Leo told them about Tía Callida, who was really Hera, and how she'd appeared to him at camp.**

**He didn't tell them about his fire abilities. That was still a touchy subject, especially after Nyssa**

**had told him fire demigods tended to deBesides, then Leo would have to get into how he'd caused his mom's death, and … No.**

**He wasn't ready to go there. He did manage to tell about the night she died, not mentioning the**

**fire, just saying the machine shop collapsed. It was easier without having to look at his friends,**

**just keeping his eyes straight ahead as they flew.**

**And he told them about the strange woman in earthen robes who seemed to be asleep, and**

**seemed to know the future.**

**Leo estimated the whole state of Massachusetts passed below them before his friends spoke.**

**"That's … disturbing," Piper said.**

**"'Bout sums it up," Leo agreed. "Thing is, everybody says don't trust Hera. She hates demigods.**

**And the prophecy said we'd cause death if we unleash her rage. So I'm wondering … why are we**

**doing this?"**

"That's a good question," Travis nodded his head in agreement.

"Because it would be worse if they didn't go and rescue her," Ocatavian was the one to supply what everyone was thinking but none wanted to admit to.

**"She chose us," Jason said. "All three of us. We're the first of the seven who have to gather for**

**the Great Prophecy. This quest is the beginning of something much bigger."**

"Thats big?" Travis asked.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**That didn't make Leo feel any better, but he couldn't argue with Jason's point. It did feel like this**

**was the start of something huge. He just wished that if there were four more demigods destined to**

**help them, they'd show up quick. Leo didn't want to hog all the terrifying life-threatening**

**adventures.**

Everyone stared at him curiously.

**"Besides," Jason continued, "helping Hera is the only way I can get back my memory. And that**

**dark spire in my dream seemed to be feeding on Hera's energy. If that thing unleashes a king of**

**the giants by destroying Hera—"**

**"Not a good trade-off," Piper agreed. "At least Hera is on our side—mostly.**

A few people chuckled in agreement at the mostly part of this sentence.

**Losing her would throw the gods into chaos. She's the main one who keeps peace in the family.**

**And a war with the giants could be even more destructive than the Titan War."**

**Jason nodded. "Chiron also talked about worse forces stirring on the solstice, with it being a**

**good time for dark magic, and all—something that could awaken if Hera were sacrificed on that**

**day. And this mistress who's controlling the storm spirits, the one who wants to kill all the**

**demigods—"**

**"Might be that weird sleeping lady," Leo finished. "Dirt Woman fully awake? Not something I**

**want to see."**

**"**I dont think any of us want to see that" Percy suplied.

**"But who is she?" Jason asked. "And what does she have to do with giants?"**

**Good questions, but none of them had answers. They flew in silence while Leo wondered if he'd**

**done the right thing, sharing so much. He'd never told anyone about that night at the warehouse.**

**Even if he hadn't give them the whole story, it still felt strange, like he'd opened up his chest and**

**taken out all the gears that made him tick.**

**His body was shaking, and not from the cold. He hoped Piper, sitting behind him, couldn't tell.**

**The forge and dove shall break the cage. Wasn't that the prophecy line? That meant Piper and he**

**would have to figure out how to break into that magic rock prison, assuming they could find it.**

**Then they'd unleash Hera's rage, causing a lot of death.**

**Well, that sounded fun! Leo had seen Tía Callida in action; she liked knives, snakes, and putting**

**babies in roaring fires. Yeah, definitely let's unleash her rage. Great idea.**

"'She put you in a fire'?!" Almost everyone screamed. It wouldnshock everyone to hear someone love knives, snakes, and baby-fires.

**Festus kept flying. The wind got colder, and below them snowy forests seemed to go on forever.**

**Leo didn't know exactly where Quebec was. He'd told Festus to take them to the palace of**

**Boreas, and Festus kept going north. Hopefully, the dragon knew the way, and they wouldn't end**

**up at the North Pole.**

"Aw, but that would be cool, they could see Santa Claus," Connor laughed.

**"Why don't you get some sleep?" Piper said in his ear. "You were up all night."**

**Leo wanted to protest, but the word sleep sounded really good. "You won't let me fall off?"**

**Piper patted his shoulder. "Trust me, Valdez. Beautiful people never lie."**

"I don't think that's true," Travis chuckled.

**"Right," he muttered. He leaned forward against the warm bronze of the dragon's neck, and**

**closed his eyes.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Katie said.

* * *

**Thanks Guys sry i dont have any excuses remember.I had help from the most Beautiful person,The person who can change anybody who's having a bad the best author i think there is.**

**REMEMBER CHECK OUT** _**FAKE-MaydayParade8123**_

**She put my name in 3 of her .**


	19. Leo XVIII

**Sorry guys but here is Chapter 18.I wrote another story it's probably gonna Suck but it would mean the world to me if you guys checked it out and Reviewed it.(Let Me Love You).I know i always update late but on New Years I will go to a boring party and a sleep over and suff,my parents wont let me stay home because "A lot of teenager boys drink,and they dont know what they are doing and suff".Well I dont give a fuck but they they will let me bring my computer and the sleepover Im like the only 13 year old girl can u believe it Im 13.. When You ask December 10th guys there will be there are 13 and they are super annoying i grew up with them so i know and my sister is ditching me at the Party so Sry for blabbering so here is the Chapter.**

* * *

Im trying to do more Percabeth,because allen r pointed out and i decided she right I need to put more Percabeth.I love romantic parts but i suck at writing them I hope you enjoy and please tell me how I

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Leo XVIII**

**"Leo XVIII," **Travis read.

**IT SEEMED HE SLEPT ONLY FOR SECONDS,but when Piper shook him awake, the daylight**

**was fading.**

"Well that's a lot better than having a dream," Percy said knowledgeably.

"You Know that dreams give you clues right Seaweed Brain"Annabeth said.

"Ohh….Of course I remember that "Percy said.

Annabeth hugged him "Im going to miss you"

"Im not going to Annabeth im just somewhere else"Percy replied hugging her back.

"Awwwww"Piper cooed. Everyone in the room turned around and looked at her. She turned RED "Sorry my Aphrodite side came out"

Jason whispered in her ear "You look really cute in your Aphrodite side"She turned more RED if that was possible.

**"We're here," she said.**

**Leo rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Below them, a city sat on a cliff overlooking a river. The**

**plains around it were dusted with snow, but the city itself glowed warmly in the winter sunset.**

**Buildings crowded together inside high walls like a medieval town, way older than any place Leo**

**had seen before. In the center was an actual castle—at least Leo assumed it was a castle—with**

**massive red brick walls and a square tower with a peaked, green gabled roof.**

"That seems like a nice place," Nico commented.

**"Tell me that's Quebec and not Santa's workshop," Leo said.**

"I thought Santa was in California somewhere … didn't you wrestle with him Percy?" Travis said chuckling.

"Nah … that was his evil twin, remember," Percy laughed.

"This isn't Santa's workshop either way," Annabeth said rolling her eyes.

"Yeah isn't he in the North Pole?"Reyna asked.

"I think so"Hazel said but in her mind she kept asking who is this Santa Clause.

**"Yeah, Quebec City," Piper confirmed. "One of the oldest cities in North America. Founded around sixteen hundred or so?"**

"Piper you seem to certainly know a lot," Annabeth said.

"well my dad being my dad I travel a lot and suff"Piper replied.

**Leo raised an eyebrow. "Your dad do a movie about that too?**

"Yes Leo he did,Can we please move on "Piper said not comfortable with the subject.** She made a face at him, which Leo was used to, but it didn't quite work with her new glamorous**

**makeup. "I read sometimes, okay? Just because Aphrodite claimed me, doesn't mean I have to be**

**an "A hotel, I think."Leo laughed. **

**"No way."airhead." "Feisty!" Leo said. "So you know so much, what's that castle?"**

**But as they got closer, Leo saw she was right. The grand entrance was bustling with doormen,**

**valets, and porters taking bags. Sleek black luxury cars idled in the drive.**

**People in elegant suits and winter cloaks hurried to get out of the cold.**

**"The North Wind is staying in a hotel?" Leo said. "That can't be—"**

"Why not, if I was in Quebec I would probably stay there," Travis said. "I always wondered what it was like staying in a castle."

"Really?"Katie asked.

"Yep, me being the prince and having a princess" he said giving her a wink.

She blused but then she thought he probably does that to everyone.

**"Heads up, guys," Jason interrupted. "We got company!"**

"Never words you want to hear when you're on a quest," Percy mumbled and looked at the book.

**Leo looked below and saw what Jason meant. Rising from the top of the tower were two winged figures—angry angels, with nasty-looking swords.**

"Argh …. it's the storm spirits," Thalia groaned worriedly.

**and made a rumbling sound in his throat that Leo recognized. He was getting ready to blow fire.**

**"Steady, boy," Leo muttered. Something told him the angels would not take kindly to getting**

**torched.**

**"I don't like this," Jason said. "They look like storm spirits."**

**At first Leo thought he was right, but as the angels got closer, he could see they were much more**

**solid than venti .**

"It looks like someone was wrong," Travis said in a sing song voice and Thalia was too relieved that they weren't the storm spirits to glare at him (which in turn made Travis pout).

**They looked like regular teenagers except for their icy white hair and feathery purple wings.**

**Their bronze swords were jagged, like icicles.**

**Their faces looked similar enough that they might've been brothers, but they definitely weren't**

**twins.**

"That's too bad, it's the best when you can pretend to be twins," Connor smirked.

"It is a good gag," Travis agreed.

**One was the size of an ox, with a bright red hockey jersey, baggy sweatpants, and black leather**

**cleats. The guy clearly had been in too many fights, because both his eyes were black, and when**

**he bared his teeth, several of them were missing.**

**The other guy looked like he'd just stepped off one of Leo's mom's 1980s rock album covers—**

**Journey, maybe, or Hall & Oates, or something even lamer.**

"Um … have you heard of any of those bands?" Percy asked.

"No," everyone said but Rachel who answered, "yeah."

"Really?" Percy exclaimed.

"I like all kinds of music," she shrugged indifferently and motioned for Travis to keep reading.

**His ice-white hair was long and feathered into a mullet. He wore pointy-toed leather shoes,**

**designer pants that were way too tight, and a god-awful silk shirt with the top three buttons open.**

**Maybe he thought he looked like a groovy love god , but the guy couldn't have weighed more**

**than ninety pounds, and he had a bad case of acne.**

"Nice," Thalia said sarcastically.

**The angels pulled up in front of the dragon and hovered there, swords at the ready.**

**The hockey ox grunted. "No clearance."**

**"'Scuse me?" Leo said.**

**"You have no flight plan on file," explained the groovy love god. On top of his other problems, he**

**had a French accent so bad Leo was sure it was fake.**

"Is a really that bad to have a French accent?" Percy asked.

"Maybe it's the fake part that makes it bad," Annabeth shrugged.

**"This is restricted airspace."**

**"Destroy them?" The ox showed off his gap-toothed grin.**

**The dragon began to hiss steam, ready to defend them. Jason summoned his golden sword, but**

**Leo cried, "Hold on! Let's have some manners here, boys. Can I at least find out who has the**

**honor of destroying me?"**

"Aw … come on, I want to see a fight," Travis sighed.

"You still might," Nico pointed out.

"You say that like it's a good thing," Thalia groaned.

"I'm just stating that it might happen," Nico shrugged.

**"I am Cal!" the ox grunted. He looked very proud of himself, like he'd taken a long time to**

**memorize that sentence.**

**"That's short for Calais," the love god said. "Sadly, my brother cannot say words with more than**

**two syllables—"**

**"Pizza! Hockey! Destroy!" Cal offered.**

"Well at least he can say the important words," Connor chuckled.

"Hockey?" Hazel offered. "Is that really that important."

"Yeah! Hockey is awesome!" Travis said. "It would be so cool if we could make a rank at camp!"

"Hockey is also really big in Canada," Annabeth added.

"Im from Canada"Frank spoke up.

"Really,im always so fascinated with Canada"Annabeth said.

**"—which includes his own name," the love god finished.**

**"I am Cal," Cal repeated. "And this is Zethes! My brother!"**

**"Wow," Leo said. "That was almost three sentences, man! Way to go."**

**Cal grunted, obviously pleased with himself. "Stupid buffoon," his brother grumbled. "They make fun of you. But no matter. I am Zethes,**

**which is short for Zethes.**

"Hm … I really don't see how he get's that nickname out of Zethes," Nico said thoughtfully.

"Idiot," Thalia rolled her eyes.

**And the lady there—" He winked at Piper, but the wink was more like a facial seizure. "She can call me anything she likes. **

You could see Jason getting all Red him being all jealous.

"Awwww little brother jealous of a Acne guy"

"No im not"he said through gritted teeth.

"Jason its okay to be jealous I think it looks HOT on you"Piper said.

Piper felt like smacking herself did she just say that.

"Thaaaaannnnkkkks"Jason said stuttering.

**Perhaps she would like to have dinner with a famous demigod before we must destroy you?"**

"I think I would take being destroyed," Rachel said.

"Nah … I'll take beating the crap out of him," Reyna said.

"That's my girl"Leo was now a Ripe Tomatoe.

**Piper made a sound like gagging on a cough drop. "That's … a truly horrifying offer."**

**"It is no problem." Zethes wiggled his eyebrows. "We are a very romantic people, we Boreads."**

**"Boreads?" Jason cut in. "Do you mean, like, the sons of Boreas?"**

**"Ah, so you've heard of us!" Zethes looked pleased. "We are our father's gatekeepers. So you**

**understand, we cannot have unauthorized people flying in his airspace on creaky dragons,**

**scaring the silly mortal peoples."**

"Hey, Festus isn't creaky!" Connor said.

"Um … he might be a little creaky," Percy said honestly.

"Who's side are you on?" Connor huffed.

"It feels good that you care Conner"Leo said sniffling.

**He pointed below, and Leo saw that the mortals were starting to take notice. Several were**

**pointing up—not with alarm, yet—more with confusion and annoyance, like the dragon was a**

**traffic helicopter flying too low. "Which is sadly why, unless this is an emergency landing," Zethes said, brushing his hair out of**

**his acne-covered face, "we will have to destroy you painfully."**

**"Destroy!" Cal agreed, with a little more enthusiasm than Leo thought necessary.**

**"Wait!" Piper said. "This is an emergency landing."**

**"Awww!" Cal looked so disappointed, Leo almost felt sorry for him.**

**Zethes studied Piper, which of course he'd already been doing. "How does the pretty girl decide**

**this is an emergency, then?"**

**"We have to see Boreas. It's totally urgent! Please?" She forced a smile, which Leo figured**

**must've been killing her; but she still had that blessing of Aphrodite thing going on, and she**

**looked great. Something about her voice, too—Leo found himself believing every word. Jason**

**was nodding, looking absolutely convinced.**

"Piper you must be charm speaking," Annabeth said.

"Well duh … even I got that," Travis rolled his eyes and she glared at him.

**Zethes picked at his silk shirt, probably making sure it was still open wide enough. "Well … I**

**hate to disappoint a lovely lady, but you see, my sister, she would have an avalanche if we allowed**

**you—""And our dragon is malfunctioning!" Piper added. "It could crash any minute!"**

**Festus shuddered helpfully, then turned his head and spilled gunk out of his ear, splattering a**

**black Mercedes in the parking lot below.**

**"No destroy?" Cal whimpered.**

**Zethes pondered the problem. Then he gave Piper another spasmodic wink. "Well, you are**

**pretty. I mean, you're right . A malfunctioning dragon—this could be an emergency."**

**"Destroy them later?" Cal offered, which was probably as close to friendly as he ever got.**

**"It will take some explaining," Zethes decided. "Father has not been kind to visitors lately. But,**

**yes. Come, faulty dragon people. Follow us."**

**The Boreads sheathed their swords and pulled smaller weapons from their belts—or at least Leo**

**thought they were weapons. Then the Boreads switched them on, and Leo realized they were**

**flashlights with orange cones, like the ones traffic controller guys use on a runway. Cal and**

**Zethes turned and swooped toward the hotel's tower.**

**Leo turned to his friends. "I love these guys. Follow them?"**

**Jason and Piper didn't look eager.**

"I don't blame them," Percy said.

"It's not like they have a choice though … they have to go," Annabeth said. "It's part of their quest."

"Well if this is anything like one of our quest … they're probably about to get killed," Percy said.

"Then let's all hope they're not as unlucky as you are," Thalia frowned.

"Guys why do you always forget we are standing right here"

**"I guess," Jason decided. "We're here now. But I wonder why Boreas hasn't been kind to"Pfft, he just hasn't met us." Leo whistled. "Festus, after those flashlights!"**

**As they got closer, Leo worried they'd crash into the tower. The Boreads made right for the green**

**gabled peak and didn't slow down. Then a section of the slanted roof slid open, revealing an**

**entrance easily wide enough for Festus. The top and bottom were lined with icicles like jagged**

**teeth.**

**"This cannot be good," Jason muttered, but Leo spurred the dragon downward, and they**

**swooped in after the Boreads.**

**They landed in what must have been the penthouse suite; but the place had been hit by a flash**

**freeze. The entry hall had vaulted ceilings forty feet high, huge draped windows, and lush**

**oriental carpets. A staircase at the back of the room led up to another equally massive hall, and**

**more corridors branched off to the left and right. But the ice made the room's beauty a little**

**frightening. When Leo slid off the dragon, the carpet crunched under his feet. A fine layer of frost**

**covered the furniture.**

"I really hope you brought their jackets," Nico said.

**The curtains didn't budge because they were frozen solid, and the ice-coated windows let in weird**

**watery light from the sunset. Even the ceiling was furry with icicles. As for the stairs, Leo was**

**sure he'd slip and break his neck if he tried to climb them.**

**visitors." "Guys," Leo said, "fix the thermostat in here, and I would totally move in."**

"I'm not sure they want him to move in Leo?" Percy said.

"Why not? Leo seems like a cool guy to be around," Connor said.

"I just doubt they're looking for a roommate," Percy shrugged.

"Im RIGHT here guys"

**"Not me." Jason looked uneasily at the staircase. "Something feels wrong. Something up there**

**…"**

**Festus shuddered and snorted flames. Frost started to form on his scales.**

"Something tells me they're not going to like a fire breathing dragon in their castle," Travis pointed out uselessly.

**"No, no, no." Zethes marched over, though how he could walk in those pointy leather shoes, Leo**

**had no idea. "The dragon must be deactivated. We can't have fire in here. The heat ruins my**

**hair."**

"The I say keep Festus activated!" Connor cheered.

**Festus growled and spun his drill-bit teeth.**

**"'S'okay, boy." Leo turned to Zethes. "The dragon's a little touchy about the whole deactivation**

**concept. But I've got a better solution."**

**"Destroy?" Cal suggested.**

"No way!" the Stoll brothers protested.

**"No, man. You gotta stop with the destroy talk. Just wait." Just wait."**

**"Leo," Piper said nervously, "what are you—"**

**"Watch and learn, beauty queen. When I was repairing Festus last night, I found all kinds of**

**buttons. Some, you do not want to know what they do. But others … Ah, here we go."**

"I want to know what those buttons do!" Travis whined.

"The ones that we don't want to know about, right," Rachel said, her theory confirmed when both the Stolls nodded their heads. "Just because he said we didn't want to know."

"Of course … that usually mean something weird or exciting happened!" Connor said.

"Yeah, like maybe Festus can turn into a fluffy bunny if you push just the right button," Travis said and everyone looked at him oddly.

"What … it could happen."

"Anyway," Octavian said asking tavis to read.

**Leo hooked his fingers behind the dragon's left foreleg. He pulled a switch, and the dragon**

**shuddered from head to toe. Everyone backed away as Festus folded like origami. His bronze**

**plating stacked together. His neck and tail contracted into his body.**

**His wings collapsed and his trunk compacted until he was a rectangular metal wedge the size of a**

**suitcase.**

"Dude! That's awesome!" the Stoll brothers cheered.

"My bunny comment not sounding so odd after that now is it," Conner said smugly. "Um … yeah it is," Nico was the one to assure him, but everyone else looked like they agreed too.

**Leo tried to lift it, but the thing weighed about six billion pounds. "Um … yeah. Hold on. I think**

**—aha."**

**He pushed another button. A handle flipped up on the top, and wheels clicked out on the bottom.**

**"Ta-da!" he announced. "The world's heaviest carry-on bag!"**

**"That's impossible," Jason said. "Something that big couldn't—"**

**"Stop!" Zethes ordered. He and Cal both drew their swords and glared at Leo.**

**Leo raised his hands. "Okay … what'd I do? Stay calm, guys. If it bothers you that much, I don't**

**have to take the dragon as carry-on—"**

**"Who are you?" Zethes shoved the point of his sword against Leo's chest. "A child of the South**

**Wind, spying on us?"**

**"What? No!" Leo said. "Son of Hephaestus. Friendly blacksmith, no harm to anyone!"**

**Cal growled. He put his face up to Leo's, and he definitely wasn't any prettier at pointblank, with**

**his bruised eyes and bashed-in mouth. "Smell fire," he said. "Fire is bad."** "He seems like fire … that's nice to know," Connor said.

"I think that's better than smelling like the sea … or even worst, the dead!" Travis added and both Percy and Nico glared at him.

**"Oh." Leo's heart raced. "Yeah, well … my clothes are kind of singed, and I've been working**

**with oil, and—"**

**"No!" Zethes pushed Leo back at sword point. "We can smell fire, demigod. We assumed it was**

**from the creaky dragon, but now the dragon is a suitcase. And I still smell fire … on you ."**

**If it hadn't been like three degrees in the penthouse, Leo would've started sweating.**

**"Hey … look … I don't know—" He glanced at his friends desperately. "Guys, a little help?"**

**Jason already had his gold coin in his hand. He stepped forward, his eyes on Zethes.**

**"Look, there's been a mistake. Leo isn't a fire guy. Tell them, Leo. Tell them you're not a fire**

**guy."**

**"Um …"**

**"Zethes?" Piper tried her dazzling smile again, though she looked a little too nervous and cold to**

**pull it off. "We're all friends here. Put down your swords and let's talk."**

"Now would be a good time for her charm speaking," Thalia said.

"Im trying"Piper said.

**"The girl is pretty," Zethes admitted, "and of course she cannot help being attracted to my**

**amazingness; but sadly, I cannot romance her at this time." He poked his sword point farther**

**into Leo's chest, and Leo could feel the frost spreading across his shirt, turning his skin numb.**

**He wished he could reactivate Festus. He needed some backup. But it would've taken several**

**minutes, even if he could reach the button, with two purple-winged crazy guys in his path.**

**"Destroy him now?" Cal asked his brother.**

"Destroy … destroy …. destroy … is that all this guy can think about?" Connor asked.

**Zethes nodded. "Sadly, I think—"**

**"No," Jason insisted. He sounded calm enough, but Leo figured he was about two seconds away**

**from flipping that coin and going into full gladiator mode. "Leo's just a son of Hephaestus. He's**

**no threat. Piper here is a daughter of Aphrodite. I'm the son of Zeus. We're on a peaceful …"**

**Jason's voice faltered, because both Boreads had suddenly turned on him.**

**"What did you say?" Zethes demanded. "You are the son of Zeus?"**

Everyone got tense at that question.

"This isn't good," Thalia frowned, she was sure something was going to happen.

**"Um … yeah," Jason said. "That's a good thing, right? My name is Jason."**

**Cal looked so surprised, he almost dropped his sword. "Can't be Jason," he said.**

**"Doesn't look the same." Zethes stepped forward and squinted at Jason's face. "No, he is not our Jason. Our Jason was**

**more stylish. Not as much as me—but stylish. Besides, our Jason died millennia ago."**

**"Wait," Jason said. " Your Jason … you mean the original Jason? The Golden Fleece guy?"**

"They knew that Jason … these guys have been around for a long time," Percy said.

**"Of course," Zethes said. "We were his crewmates aboard his ship, the Argo , in the old times,**

**when we were mortal demigods. Then we accepted immortality to serve our father, so I could**

**look this good for all time, and my silly brother could enjoy pizza and hockey."**

**"Hockey!" Cal agreed.**

"It looks like he does think about other things other than just destroying," Connor nodded his head.

**"But Jason— our Jason—he died a mortal death," Zethes said. "You can't be him."**

**"I'm not," Jason agreed.**

**"So, destroy?" Cal asked. Clearly the conversation was giving his two brain cells a serious**

**workout. "No," Zethes said regretfully. "If he is a son of Zeus, he could be the one we've been watching**

**for." "Watching for?" Leo asked. "You mean like in a good way: you'll shower him with fabulous**

**prizes? Or watching for like in a bad way: he's in trouble?"**

**A girl's voice said, "That depends on my father's will."**

**Leo looked up the staircase. His heart nearly stopped. At the top stood a girl in a white silk dress.**

**Her skin was unnaturally pale, the color of snow, but her hair was a lush mane of black, and her**

**eyes were coffee brown. She focused on Leo with no expression, no smile, no friendliness. But it**

**didn't matter. Leo was in love. She was the most dazzling girl he'd ever seen.**

"Hmmmm"Reyna coughed.

Leo started stammering "This is in the future, I don't know you and the girl does not sound that Pretty"

Reyna was still mad. She got up and sat next to Piper. Piper let go off Jason's hand which he was very disappointed about. Reyna and Piper had seem to be getting along very hugged her and told her comforting words.

Leo he kept yelling at him he was horrible how he could be such a Jerk. He thought Reyna was the prettiest person alive and this stupid girl he doesn't even know of has to come in.

Jason was mad at Leo finally Piper and him were holding hands. But he just had to think another girl was pretty and Piper let go off him to comfort Reyna.

**Then she looked at Jason and Piper, and seemed to understand the situation immediately.**

**"Father will want to see the one called Jason," the girl said.**

**"Then it is him?" Zethes asked excitedly.**

**"We'll see," the girl said. "Zethes, bring our guests."**

**Leo grabbed the handle of his bronze dragon suitcase. He wasn't sure how he'd lug it up the**

**stairs, but he had to get next to that girl and ask her some important questions—like her e-mail**

**address and phone number.**

"Something tells me that she's not going to give you that," Travis sighed.

**Before he could take a step, she froze him with a look. Not literally froze, but she might as well**

**have.**

**"Not you, Leo Valdez," she said.**

"Argh … I hate it when people know your name out of the blue like that," Percy shivered.

"I hate when anyone says my full name period!" Thalia added.

**In the back of his mind, Leo wondered how she knew his name; but mostly he was just**

**concentrating on how crushed he felt.**

**"Why not?" He probably sounded like a whiny kindergartner, but he couldn't help it.**

Leo tried talking to Reyna "see I don't even want to go"

"Yep,Im your second choice aren't I" Reyna turned around so they couldn't talk no more.

**"You cannot be in the presence of my father," the girl said. "Fire and ice—it would not be wise." "We're going together," Jason insisted, putting his hand on Leo's shoulder, "or not at all."**

**The girl tilted her head, like she wasn't used to people refusing her orders. "He will not be**

**harmed, Jason Grace, unless you make trouble. Calais, keep Leo Valdez here. Guard him, but do**

**not kill him."**

**Cal pouted. "Just a little?"** Nico chuckled at that but no one else seemed to think it was that funny.

**"No," the girl insisted. "And take care of his interesting suitcase, until Father passes judgment."**

**Jason and Piper looked at Leo, their expressions asking him a silent question: How do you want**

**to play this?**

**Leo felt a surge of gratitude. They were ready to fight for him.**

"Well of course they would, they're right friends," Percy smiled, though he was thinking more of the his own experience and smiled at the people in the clearing.

**They wouldn't leave him alone with the hockey ox. Part of him wanted to go for it, bust out his**

**new tool belt and see what he could do, maybe even summon a fireball or two and warm this**

**place up.**

**But the Boread guys scared him. And that gorgeous girl scared him more, even if he still wanted**

**her number.**

**"It's fine, guys," he said. "No sense causing trouble if we don't have to. You go ahead."**

**"Listen to your friend," the pale girl said. "Leo Valdez will be perfectly safe. I wish I could say**

**the same for you, son of Zeus. Now come, King Boreas is waiting."**

"That's the end of the chapter," Chris said, handing the book to Frank.

"I really don't think they should go to this meeting at all," Thalia grimaced.

"They have to," Annabeth said. "If they're going to find out what's going on, they're going to have to

talk to Boreas."

Thalia made a face at that. "Whatever."

* * *

Took Me 2 hours to write and it is 4,576 !


	20. Jason XIX

**Im gonna do them in order Peole have been asking for the order so here it is!**

**The Demigods Read The Lost Hero**  
**The Demigods Read The Son Of Neptune**  
**The Demigods Read The Demigod diaries**  
**The Demigods Read The Mark Of Athena**

**They take a break from the heros of olympus story.**

**The Demigods Read The Lightning Theif**  
**The Demigods Read The Sea Of Monsters**  
**The Demigods Read The Titans Curse**  
**The Demigods Read The Battle Of Labrith**  
**The Demigods Read The Demigod Files**  
**The Demigods Read The Battle Of Labrith**

**Then they can get back to the Heros of olympus storyies.**

**The House Of Hades**  
**And More...**

**Sorry guys I have another account and i was just focused on this can this be my Vantine gift to you guys sorry if its bad.**

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen **

**Jason XIX**

"**Jason XIX," **Frank read.

**JASON DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE LEO, but he was starting to think that hanging out with Cal the hockey jock might be the least dangerous option in this place.**

"Yeah, that's usually the way of things." Percy said sighing.

**As they climbed the icy staircase, Zethes stayed behind them, his blade drawn. The guy might've looked like a disco-era reject, but there was nothing funny about his sword.**

**Jason figured one hit from that thing would probably turn him into a Popsicle.**

"Yum, Popsicles … I love Popsicles!" Connor said. "Though I don't think I'd want to be one."

"Then don't get stabbed by the disco-era reject." his brother suggested to him.

"You both are idiots"Katie muttered.

**Then there was the ice princess. Every once in a while she'd turn and give Jason a smile, but there was no warmth in her expression.**

"Ohhh cold place its nice to get a smile from a which that has no warmth he said"taking his arms and hugging started laughing.

** She regarded Jason like he was an especially interesting science specimen—one she couldn't wait to dissect.**

"I don't think I like her," Thalia muttered, her eyes narrowed.

"She sounds kinda of pretty"Nico glared at him the room turned 30 degresses colder. But then Nico corrected "Not has beautiful has you my goddess"

"Nice save"Travis coffed.

Thalia scooted out of Nico way and went to go sit next to Annabeth.

"I didn't mean it Thalia Please come back"He called.

Frank just coffed and said "Can we please get going"Everyone nodded.

**If these were Boreas's kids, Jason wasn't sure he wanted to meet Daddy. Annabeth had told him**

**Boreas was the friendliest of the wind gods. Apparently that meant he didn't kill heroes quite as fast as the others did.**

"Yes, that's usually what friendliest means." Percy said.

"But I'm not sure if that's what I meant," Annabeth frowned, "I haven't heard of Boreas acting like this to demigods before."

"Maybe cause Gaiea rising"Percy said.

**Jason worried that he'd led his friends into a trap. If things went bad, he wasn't sure he could get them out alive. Without thinking about it, he took Piper's hand for reassurance. She raised her eyebrows, but she didn't let go.**

"I'm surprised she didn't blush at the fact that he grabbed her hand," Connor chuckled.

"She probably would have if she wasn't in an ice castle, surrounded by funnily scary people," Travis laughed.

"Guys im freaking sitting here for crying aloud"Piper said.

"Wow that's a little embarrassing then"Conner and Travis admitted.

Jason was laughing."Why the frick are you laughing"Piper asked.

"Ohhh because you would be blusing"he that Piper blushed.

"You would to"Reyna and Leo said.

"We got your back"Leo said.

**"It'll be fine," she promised. "Just a talk, right?"**

**At the top of the stairs, the ice princess looked back and noticed them holding hands.**

**Her smile faded. Suddenly Jason's hand in Piper's turned ice cold— burning cold. He let go, and his fingers were smoking with frost. So were Piper's.**

"Ice princess is jealous! How obvious!" Connor laughed.

"Poor Leo, it looks like Jason's the one that gets all the girls," Travis added with a sigh.

"Hahaha not all the girls"Leo said.

"Yeah im not even that good looking"Jason chimed in.

In her mind Piper like there is something wrong with him if he not good looking shes probably stupid hes the hottest guy she has ever seen.

"Maybe next time, Leo should pick a better girl to like." Thalia said rolling her eyes.

"I already did guys"Leo said looking at Reyna.

Reyna blushed in her mind wtf I never blush like him doing im suppose to be strong not this freaking love sick puppy.

**"Warmth is not a good idea here," the princess advised, "especially when I am your best chance of staying alive. Please, this way."**

"Best chance, my ass!" Thalia grumbled, she really didn't trust this girl at all.

**Piper gave him a nervous frown like, What was that about?**

**Jason didn't have an answer. Zethes poked him in the back with his icicle sword and they followed the princess down a massive hallway decked in frosty tapestries.**

**Freezing winds blew back and forth, and Jason's thoughts moved almost as fast. He'd had a lot of time to think while they rode the dragon north, but he felt as confused as ever.**

**Thalia's picture was still in his pocket, though he didn't need to look at it anymore. Her image had burned itself into his mind.**

Thalia gave a small smile at that, glad to know that he remembered her. She hoped this meant that they would meet each other in the future.

"I hope we meet in the future"Jason said.

"Me to you really need help with your love life she said pointing to Piper"Jason blused Piper didn't even notice this exchange.

**It was bad enough not remembering his past, but to know he had a sister out there somewhere who might have answers and to have no way of finding her—that just drove him up the wall.**

And now she sighed, wishing that she didn't cause him to be even more anxious about everything.

**In the picture, Thalia looked nothing like him. They both had blue eyes, but that was it.**

**Her hair was black. Her complexion was more Mediterranean. Her facial features were sharper**

**—like a hawk's.**

"Yeah, I can see what he means," Nico said. "You're definitely hawk-like. Even your personality is!"

"Shut up!" Thalia glared at him and Nico chuckled.

"Im still mad at you Nico so I wouldn't push it" Thalia said.

"How many times do I have to apologize" Thalia had turned her head so she wouldn't have to look at thought if he cracked a joke it might break the ice wow was he wrong.

**Still, Thalia looked so familiar. Hera had left him just enough memory that he could be certain**

**Thalia was his sister. But Annabeth had acted completely surprised when he'd told her, like she'd**

**never heard of Thalia having a brother. Did Thalia even know about him? How had they been**

**separated?**

Thalia could feel everyone looking at her but she just looked down. She didn't want to talk about what happened, how she thought she lost him in more detail than she had already said. Frank started reading again, feeling her discomfort.

**Hera had taken those memories. She'd stolen everything from Jason's past, plopped him into a new life, and now she expected him to save her from some prison just so he could get back what she'd taken. It made Jason so angry, he wanted to walk away, let Hera rot in that cage:**

"I don't blame him at all." Annabeth growled.

Thalia on the other hand was just angry at everything that Jason was thinking about because she knew that he had to help Hera even though she didn't deserve it.

**but he couldn't. He was hooked. He had to know more, and that made him even more resentful.**

**"Hey." Piper touched his arm. "You still with me?"**

**"Yeah … yeah, sorry."**

**He was grateful for Piper. He needed a friend, and he was glad she'd started losing the Aphrodite blessing. The makeup was fading. Her hair was slowly going back to its old choppy style with thelittle braids down the sides. It made her look more real, and as far as Jason was concerned, more**

**beautiful.**

"Aw … isn't that cute?" the Stoll brothers said in a babyish voice.

"I think he's really starting to like her now!" Connor added in the same voice.

"Ive always liked her"Jason said in a small heard it but Piper and she started blushing like crazy and then Jason relized that and he blushed knew what was going on so they ignored slipped her hand into his and felt like facing so did Jason they both were in heaven.

**He was sure now that they'd never known each other before the Grand Canyon. Their relationship was just a trick of the Mist in Piper's mind. But the longer he spent with her, the more he wished it had been real.**

**Stop that, he told himself. It wasn't fair to Piper, thinking that way. Jason had no idea what was**

**waiting for him back in his old life—or who might be waiting. But he was pretty sure his past wouldn't mix with Camp Half-Blood.**

"Why are you keep thinking things like that?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know this is the future guys" Jason said exasperated.

**After this quest, who knew what would happen? Assuming they even survived.**

**At the end of the hallway they found themselves in front of a set of oaken doors carved with a map of the world. In each corner was a man's bearded face, blowing wind. Jason was pretty sure**

**he'd seen maps like this before. But in this version,**

"So he saw a different wind god before?" Annabeth mused out loud.

**all the wind guys were Winter, blowing ice and snow from every corner of the world.**

**The princess turned. Her brown eyes glittered, and Jason felt like he was a Christmas present she**

**was hoping to open.**

"Argh … that's kind of creepy..." Nico shuddered.

"Still thinks shes HOT"thalia asked?

"I told you were the only girl for me"

"Liar"Thalia said.

Frank just continued.

**"This is the throne room," she said. "Be on your best behavior, Jason Grace. My father can be …**

**chilly. I will translate for you, and try to encourage him to hear you out. I do hope he spares you.**

**We could have such fun."**

**Jason guessed this girl's definition of fun was not the same as his.**

**"Um, okay," he managed. "But really, we're just here for a little talk. We'll be leaving right**

**afterward."**

**The girl smiled. "I love heroes. So blissfully ignorant."**

"We are not!" Connor huffed.

"We can be..." Percy admitted.

"We all know that you're ignorant, but not all of us are," Travis teased him.

"I Know somebody whos blissgully and ignorant" Travis said looking at Katie,Katie didn't even travis was just looking down really sadly.

**Piper rested her hand on her dagger. "Well, how about you enlighten us? You say you're going to translate for us, and we don't even know who you are. What's your name?"**

**The girl sniffed with distaste. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you don't recognize me. Even in the ancient times the Greeks did not know me well. Their island homes were too warm, too far from my domain. I am Khione, daughter of Boreas, goddess of snow." She stirred the air with her finger, and a miniature blizzard swirled around her—big, fluffy**

**flakes as soft as cotton.**

"Well, that's pretty cool..." Connor admitted.

"She would be good when we wanted a snow cone," Travis added. "Of course we wouldn't have any of the flavouring …"

"dumb-ass"Katie coughed.

**"Now, come," Khione said. The oaken doors blew open, and cold blue light spilled out of the**

**room. "Hopefully you will survive your little talk."**

"That's the end of the chapter." Frank said giving the book to Percy.


	21. Jason XX

**Chapter Twenty**

**Jason XX**

"**Jason XX," **Percy read.

**IF THE ENTRY HALL HAD BEEN COLD, the throne room was like a meat locker.**

**Mist hung in the air. Jason shivered, and his breath steamed. Along the walls, purple tapestries showed scenes of snowy forests, barren mountains, and glaciers. High above, ribbons of colored light—the aurora borealis—pulsed along the ceiling. A layer of snow covered the floor, so Jason had to step carefully. All around the room stood lifesize ice sculpture warriors—some in Greek armor, some medieval, some in modern camouflage—all frozen in various attack positions, swords raised, guns locked and loaded.**

"Something tells me they're not just ice sculptures," Percy muttered with a shiver, thinking about the stone sculptures he had seen so long ago and how similar these seemed to be to that.

**At least Jason thought they were sculptures. Then he tried to step between two Greek spearmen, and they moved with surprising speed, their joints cracking and spraying ice crystals as they crossed their javelins to block Jason's path.**

"Well I wasn't expecting that," Nico said surprised.

"They're alive!" Connor said in a booming voice.

"No you dimwit" Thalia said.

**From the far end of the hall, a man's voice rang out in a language that sounded like French. The room was so long and misty, Jason couldn't see the other end; but whatever the man said, the ice guards uncrossed their javelins.**

**"It's fine," Khione said. "My father has ordered them not to kill you just yet."**

"Well that was nice of him," Travis said. "Let's just hope that he never orders to kill them now."

"Which is a tall order I'm sure," Connor added and Thalia glared at him warily. Reading this book about her brother during a quest was really starting to get to her.

**"Super," Jason said.**

**Zethes prodded him in the back with his sword. "Keep moving, Jason Junior."**

**"Please don't call me that."**

The Stoll brothers chuckled at that and Travis said, "it looks like we've found a good name to call you"

"Jason Junior" Travis and Conner called.

"Please don't call me that Jason was connected with Hera, I don't want to be connected to her "he replied.

Thalia was glaring at them so hard they just shut-up.

**"My father is not a patient man," Zethes warned, "and the beautiful Piper, sadly, is losing her magic hairdo very fast. Later, perhaps, I can lend her something from my wide assortment of hair products."**

Jason was starting to glare at the book Percy was holding.

"Dude I didn't do anything to you STOP glaring at me its creepy "Percy shakily said.

"Yeah, because I'm glaring at you "Jason rolled his eyes.

"Ohh because I thought you were getting jealous of Zethes"Reyna replied.

"Pshhh of course not. Why would I get jealous of that pimply freak"Jason asked?

"Ohh because I thought you were jealous because you might actually like me Jason because I know you like me but I feel like you don't like me more then a friend do you have someone else in your life?" Piper asked with tears in her eyes.

"No, of course not Piper "Jason said.

"I don't wanna here it please I just wanna get this story with so we can go home"

"ummm Piper" Katie kind of of tried to but in.

"what?"

"there a whole series"

"Shit no"

"its okay you can sit next to me and Travis"

"nahhh I don't wanna cut into your romance"

"WHAT?"Katie asked. Travis was really quiet.

"WE HAVE NO ROMANCE "Katie yelled.

Travis just looked down some more.

"ANY GUY CAN ASK ME OUT AND I WILL SAY YES WITH NO DOUGHT"but in the back off her mind she like no I will say no travis is just too cute.

**"Thanks," Piper grumbled.**

**They kept walking, and the mist parted to reveal a man on an ice throne. He was sturdily built,**

**dressed in a stylish white suit that seemed woven from snow, with dark purple wings that spread**

**out to either side. His long hair and shaggy beard were encrusted with icicles, so Jason couldn't tell if his hair was gray or just white with frost.**

"I'd go with frost," Nico said. "Even if it's not true the god would appreciate that better."

**His arched eyebrows made him look angry, but his eyes twinkled more warmly than his daughter's—as if he might have a sense of humor buried somewhere under that permafrost. Jason hoped so.**

"Even if he did, I don't think it's going to help you out too much," Percy muttered. "Gods' sense of humor usually involves killing halfbloods."

**"Bienvenu , " the king said. " Je suis Boreas le Roi. Et vous?"**

"You're French is horrible, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth smirked at him as Percy stuck out his tongue.

**Khione the snow goddess was about to speak, but Piper stepped forward and curtsied.**

**"Votre Majesté," she said,**

"You speak French!" Nico said.

"Of course," Annabeth said but didn't explain as she added.

"How do you know I could speak French "Piper asked?

"Its an Aphrodite thing"Annabeth replied.

"Heyyyyy your lady can speak many languages you lucky bastard"Conner laughed.

They both turned RED but piper yelled "WE ARE NOT TOGETHER ,WE DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER,WE R NOT EVEN DATING"at this Jason looked his head away because all the don't he wanted to be yes.

**" je suis Piper McLean. Et c ' est Jason, fils de Zeus."**

**The king smiled with pleasant surprise. "Vous parlez français? Très bien!"**

**"Piper, you speak French?" Jason asked.**

**Piper frowned. "No. Why?"**

"you don't know you speak French"Ocatavian asked.

"Probably forgot its just translates English in my head"Piper replied.

"Yes you do," Connor said shook his head. "Your a liar."

"She doesn't know she could speak French," Percy grimaced and then looked at

"What's with people speaking all sorts of different languages in this book," Travis huffed, "first Jason you with your Latin and now Piper, next thing we know Leo will be about to speak Russian!"

"I doubt that he knows how to speak Russian, though he does speak Spanish," Rachel said chuckling.

"Yeah guys I can speak Spanish but I have always wanted to learn Russian "Leo replied.

**"You just spoke French."**

**Piper blinked. "I did?"**

**The king said something else, and Piper nodded. "Oui , Votre Majesté."**

**The king laughed and clapped his hands, obviously delighted. He said a few more sentences then**

**swept his hand toward his daughter as if shooing her away.**

**Khione looked miffed.**

"I bet she does," Thalia smirked, she didn't like Khione and wished that she did just go away.

**"The king says—"**

**"He says I'm a daughter of Aphrodite," Piper interrupted, "so naturally I can speak French, which is the language of love. I had no idea. His Majesty says Khione won't have to translate now."**

**Behind them, Zethes snorted, and Khione shot him a murderous look. She bowed stiffly to her father and took a step back.**

**The king sized up Jason, and Jason decided it would be a good idea to bow. "Your Majesty, I'm**

**Jason Grace. Thank you for, um, not killing us. May I ask … why does a Greek god speak French?"**

"Well that was blunt," Percy said.

"You say that like you wouldn't have asked the same question," Annabeth rolled her eyes as he smiled sheepishly, he definitely would have asked that question as well.

**Piper had another exchange with the king.**

**"He speaks the language of his host country," Piper translated. "He says all gods do this. Most Greek gods speak English, as they now reside in the United States, but Boreas was never welcomed in their realm. His domain was always far to the north. These days he likes Quebec, so he speaks French."**

**The king said something else, and Piper turned pale.**

**"The king says …" She faltered. "He says—"**

**"Oh, allow me," Khione said. "My father says he has orders to kill you. Did I not mention that earlier?"**

**Jason tensed. The king was still smiling amiably, like he'd just delivered great news.**

"See, that's what the gods' sense of humor is like," Percy said making a face.

**"Kill us?" Jason said. "Why?"**

**"Because," the king said, in heavily accented English, "my lord Aeolus has commanded it."**

**Boreas rose. He stepped down from his throne and furled his wings against his back. As he**

**approached, Khione and Zethes bowed. Jason and Piper followed their example.**

"Yeah, bow down to the guy that just told you that he had orders to kill you," Connor muttered.

**"I shall deign to speak your language," Boreas said, "as Piper McLean has honored me in mine.**

**Toujours , I have had a fondness for the children of Aphrodite. As for you, Jason Grace, my master Aeolus would not expect me to kill a son of Lord Zeus … without first hearing you out."**

"So if you was a son of anyone else he would have just been killed?" Annabeth grimaced thoughtfully.

"I think so"Jason shook his head.

**Jason's gold coin seemed to grow heavy in his pocket. If he were forced to fight, he didn't like his chances. Two seconds at least to summon his blade.**

_Well there's one advantage to Riptide_, Percy thought, _I don't have to wait as long for it to transform into a weapon._

**Then he'd be facing a god, two of his children, and an army of freeze-dried warriors.**

"I've had worst odds," Percy said and then added thoughtfully, "maybe."

"A fight wouldn't be good," Annabeth said.

**"Aeolus is the master of the winds, right?" Jason asked. "Why would he want us dead?"**

**"You are demigods," Boreas said, as if this explained everything. "Aeolus's job is to contain the**

**winds, and demigods have always caused him many headaches. They ask him for favors. They**

**unleash winds and cause chaos. But the final insult was the battle with Typhon last summer…"**

**Boreas waved his hand, and a sheet of ice like a flat-screen TV appeared in the air.**

"Dude, that's so cool," Travis said. "I wish I could do that."

**Images of a battle flickered across the surface—a giant wrapped in storm clouds, wading across a**

**river toward the Manhattan skyline. Tiny, glowing figures—the gods, Jason guessed—swarmed**

**around him like angry wasps, pounding the monster with lightning and fire. Finally the river**

**erupted in a massive whirlpool, and the smoky form sank beneath the waves and disappeared.**

**"The storm giant, Typhon," Boreas explained. "The first time the gods defeated him, eons ago,**

**he did not die quietly. His death released a host of storm spirits—wild winds that answered to no**

**one. It was Aeolus's job to track them all down and imprison them in his fortress. The other gods**

—**they did not help. They did not even apologize for the inconvenience. It took Aeolus centuries**

**to track down all the storm spirits, and naturally this irritated him. Then, last summer, Typhon**

**was defeated again—"**

**"And his death released another wave of venti ," Jason guessed. "Which made Aeolus even angrier."**

"And so he takes his angry out of the demigods of course," Thalia said. "As if it was our fault."

"Well, Percy did sort of helped waken Typhon," Nico pointed out and Percy made a face at him.

"Besides, it's not like Aeolus could be angry at the gods," Annabeth added.

**"C ' est vrai," Boreas agreed.**

**"But, Your Majesty," Piper said, "the gods had no choice but to battle Typhon. He was going to destroy Olympus! Besides, why punish demigods for that?**

**The king shrugged. "Aeolus cannot take out his anger on the gods. They are his bosses, and very**

**powerful. So he gets even with the demigods who helped them in the war. He issued orders to us:**

**demigods who come to us for aid are no longer to be tolerated. We are to crush your little mortal**

**faces."**

"Remind me not to go to a wind god for help in the future," Connor muttered to his brother.

**There was an uncomfortable silence.**

**"That sounds … extreme," Jason ventured. "But you're not going to crush our faces yet, right?**

"Nah … he's probably just going to freeze you to death now," Travis said and the hairs on his arms

raised at the glare that Thalia was giving him.

**You're going to listen to us first, 'cause once you hear about our quest—"**

**"Yes, yes," the king agreed. "You see, Aeolus also said that a son of Zeus might seek my aid, and**

**if this happened, I should listen to you before destroying you, as you might—how did he put it?—**

**make all our lives very interesting. I am only obligated to listen, however. After that, I am free to**

**pass judgment as I see fit. But I will listen first. Khione wishes this also. It may be that we will not**

**kill you."**

"I hate it when gods say things like that," Annabeth grumbled, it was clear that Boreas knew more than

he was saying and more frustrating that he wasn't going to tell them what he knew.

**Jason felt like he could almost breathe again. "Great. Thanks."**

**"Do not thank me." Boreas smiled. "There are many ways you could make our lives interesting.**

**Sometimes we keep demigods for our amusement, as you can see."**

**He gestured around the room to the various ice statues.**

**Piper made a strangled noise. "You mean—they're all demigods? Frozen demigods? They're**

**alive?"**

**"An interesting question," Boreas conceded, as if it had never occurred to him before.**

**"They do not move unless they are obeying my orders. The rest of the time, they are merely**

**frozen. Unless they were to melt, I suppose, which would be very messy."**

"What would happen if they melt?" Annabeth questioned thoughtfully.

"If you don't know, we don't," Percy pointed out before he started reading again.

**Khione stepped behind Jason and put her cold fingers on his neck. "My father gives me such**

**lovely presents," she murmured in his ear. "Join our court. Perhaps I'll let your friends go."**

"Don't listen to that," Thalia said, knowing that his ice princess wasn't about to let any of them go if she could help it.

**"What?" Zethes broke in. "If Khione gets this one, then I deserve the girl. Khione always gets more presents!"**

**"Now, children," Boreas said sternly. "Our guests will think you are spoiled! Besides, you moved**

**too fast. We have not even heard the demigod's story yet. Then we will decide what to do with them. Please, Jason Grace, entertain us."**

**Jason felt his brain shutting down. He didn't look at Piper for fear he'd completely lose it. He'd**

**gotten them into this, and now they were going die—or worse, they'd be amusements for Boreas's**

**children and end up frozen forever in this throne room, slowly corroding from freezer burn.**

**Khione purred and stroked his neck. Jason didn't plan it, but electricity sparked along his skin.**

**There was loud pop , and Khione flew backward, skidding across the floor.**

Everyone chuckled at this, though some were a little wary of what Khione would try to do afterward it

was funny thinking about this.

**Zethes laughed. "That is good! I'm glad you did that, even though I have to kill you now."**

"I would think that would only make him happier," Clarisse said.

**For a moment, Khione was too stunned to react. Then the air around her began to swirl with a**

**micro-blizzard. "You dare—"**

**"Stop," Jason ordered, with as much force as he could muster. "You're not going to kill us. And**

**you're not going to keep us. We're on a quest for the queen of the gods herself, so unless you want**

**Hera busting down your doors, you're going to let us go."**

**He sounded a lot more confident than he felt, but it got their attention. Khione's blizzard swirled**

**to a stop. Zethes lowered his sword. They both looked uncertainly at their father.**

**"Hmm," Boreas said. His eyes twinkled, but Jason couldn't tell if it was with anger or**

**amusement. "A son of Zeus, favored by Hera? This is definitely a first. Tell us your story."**

"That is a bit odd," Connor said. "Hera hates all demigods but she really despises the children of Zeus."

**Jason would've botched it right there. He hadn't been expecting to get the chance to talk, and**

**now that he could, his voice abandoned him.**

**Piper saved him. "Your Majesty." She curtsied again with incredible poise, considering her life**

**was on the line. She told Boreas the whole story, from the Grand Canyon to the prophecy, much**

**better and faster than Jason could have.**

"She's keeps a cool head under pressure," Annabeth nodded her head in approval.

"It's always good to have a level headed person with you," Percy smiled at his girlfriend.

**"All we ask for is guidance," Piper concluded. "These storm spirits attacked us, and they're**

**working for some evil mistress. If we find them, maybe we can find Hera."**

**The king stroked the icicles in his beard. Out the windows, night had fallen, and the only light**

**came from the aurora borealis overhead, washing everything in red and blue.**

**The king stroked the icicles in his beard. Out the windows, night had fallen, and the only light came from the aurora borealis overhead, washing everything in red and blue.**

**"I know of these storm spirits," Boreas said. "I know where they are kept, and of the prisoner**

**they took."**

"So he can help them," Rachel said.

"Now the only question is will he," Hazel said dryly.

**"You mean Coach Hedge?" Jason asked. "He's alive?"**

**Boreas waved aside the question. "For now.**

**But the one who controls these storm winds … It would be madness to oppose her. You would bevbetter staying here as frozen statues."**

**"Hera's in trouble," Jason said. "In three days she's going to be—I don't know—consumed,**

**destroyed, something. And a giant is going to rise."**

**"Yes," Boreas agreed. Was it Jason's imagination, or did he shoot Khione an angry look?**

Annabeth grimaced at this, talking note of this.

**"Many horrible things are waking. Even my children do not tell me all the news they should. The**

**Great Stirring of monsters that began with Kronos—your father Zeus foolishly believed it would**

**end when the Titans were defeated. But just as it was before, so it is now. The final battle is yet to**

**come, and the one who will wake is more terrible than any Titan. Storm spirits—these are only beginning. The earth has many more horrors to yield up. When**

**monsters no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades … Olympus has**

**good reason to fear."**

**Jason wasn't sure what all this meant, but he didn't like the way Khione was smiling—like this**

**was her definition of fun.**

**"So you'll help us?" Jason asked the king.**

**Boreas scowled. "I did not say that."**

**"Please, Your Majesty," Piper said.**

**Everyone's eyes turned toward her. She had to be scared out of her mind, but she looked**

**beautiful and confident—and it had nothing to do with the blessing of Aphrodite.**

"Aw," the Stoll brothers cooed in baby voices as the other rolled their eyes.

"thanks"Piper mumbled looking down.

"no problem"Jason said looking up torwards the sky.

It was getting really awkward between them.

**She looked herself again, in day-old traveling clothes with choppy hair and no makeup.**

**But she almost glowed with warmth in that cold throne room. "If you tell us where the storm spirits are, we can capture them and bring them to Aeolus. You'd look good in front of your boss.**

**Aeolus might pardon us and the other demigods. We could even rescue Gleeson Hedge. Everyone wins."**

**"She's pretty," Zethes mumbled. "I mean, she's right."**

"Awwww"Piper said he thinks im pretty. Everyone was shocked but Thalia,Annabeth,Rachel,Reyna they knew what she was doing she was trying to make Jason jealous so he could finally say his feelings.

Thalia,Annabeth,Racjel,Reyna were gonna help with that.

Through this Jason was seeing RED(cause loving him was like ) he couldn't believe what he was hearing he was in so much anger Leo moved away from him but Piper still stood there happy with what she said made an affect on him. **"Father, don't listen to her," Khione said. "She's a child of Aphrodite. She dares to charmspeak a**

**god? Freeze her now!"**

**Boreas considered this. Jason slipped his hand in his pocket and got ready to bring out the gold**

**coin. If things went wrong, he'd have to move fast.**

**The movement caught Boreas's eye. "What is that on your forearm, demigod?"**

**Jason hadn't realized his coat sleeve had gotten pushed up, revealing the edge of his tattoo.**

**Reluctantly, he showed Boreas his marks.**

**The god's eyes widened. Khione actually hissed and stepped away. Then Boreas did something unexpected. He laughed so loudly, an icicle cracked from the ceiling**

**and crashed next to his throne. The god's form began to flicker. His beard disappeared. He grew**

**taller and thinner, and his clothes changed into a Roman toga, lined with purple. His head was**

**crowned with a frosty laurel wreath, and a gladius—a Roman sword like Jason's—hung at his side.**

**"Aquilon," Jason said, though where he got the god's Roman name from, he had no idea. The god inclined his head. "You recognize me better in this form, yes? And yet you said you came**

**from Camp Half-Blood?"**

**Jason shifted his feet. "Uh … yes, Your Majesty."**

**"And Hera sent you there…" The winter god's eyes were full of mirth. "I understand now. Oh,**

**she plays a dangerous game. Bold, but dangerous! No wonder Olympus is closed. They must be**

**trembling at the gamble she has taken." "Jason," Piper said nervously, "why did Boreas change shape? The toga, the wreath. What's**

**going on?" "It's his Roman form," Jason said. "But what's going on—I don't know."**

**The god laughed. "No, I'm sure you don't. This should be very interesting to watch." "Does that mean you'll let us go?" Piper asked.**

**"My dear," Boreas said, "there is no reason for me to kill you. If Hera's plan fails, which I think it will, you will tear each other apart. Aeolus will never have to worry about demigods again."**

**Jason felt as if Khione's cold fingers were on his neck again, but it wasn't her—it was just the**

**feeling that Boreas was right. That sense of wrongness which had bothered Jason since he got to**

**Camp Half-Blood, and Chiron's comment about his arrival being disastrous—Boreas knew what**

**they meant.**

**"I don't suppose you could explain?" Jason asked.**

**"Oh, perish the thought! It is not for me to interfere in Hera's plan. No wonder she took your**

**memory." Boreas chuckled, apparently still having a great time imagining demigods tearing each**

**other apart.**

Percy shook his head once again at the god's sense of humor.

**"You know, I have a reputation as a helpful wind god. Unlike my brethren, I've been known to**

**fall in love with mortals. Why, my sons Zethes and Calais started as demigods—"**

**"Which explains why they are idiots," Khione growled.**

**"Stop it!" Zethes snapped back. "Just because you were born a full goddess—"**

**"Both of you, freeze," Boreas ordered. Apparently, that word carried a lot of weight in the**

**household, because the two siblings went absolutely still. "Now, as I was saying, I have a good**

**reputation, but it is rare that Boreas plays an important role in the affairs of gods. I sit here in**

**my palace, at the edge of civilization, and so rarely have amusements. Why, even that fool Notus,**

**the South Wind, gets spring break in Cancún. What do I get? A winter festival with naked**

**Québécois rolling around in the snow!"**

"That doesn't sound so bad to me," Travis and Connor said together with a smirk.

"You would think that," Annabeth muttered.

**"I like the winter festival," Zethes muttered.**

**"My point," Boreas snapped, "is that I now have a chance to be the center. Oh, yes, I will let you**

**go on this quest. You will find your storm spirits in the windy city, of course. Chicago—" "Father!" Khione protested.**

**Boreas ignored his daughter. "If you can capture the winds, you may be able to gain safe**

**entrance to the court of Aeolus. If by some miracle you succeed, be sure to tell him you captured**

**the winds on my orders." "Okay, sure," Jason said. "So Chicago is where we'll find this lady who's controlling the winds?**

**She's the one who's trapped Hera?"**

**"Ah." Boreas grinned. "Those are two different questions, son of Jupiter." Jupiter, Jason noticed. Before, he called me son of Zeus.**

**"The one who controls the winds," Boreas continued, "yes, you will find her in Chicago. But she**

**is only a servant—a servant who is very likely to destroy you. If you succeed against her and take**

**the winds, then you may go to Aeolus. Only he has knowledge of all the winds on the earth. All**

**secrets come to his fortress eventually. If anyone can tell you where Hera is imprisoned, it is**

**Aeolus. As for who you will meet when you finally find Hera's cage—truly, if I told you that, you**

**would beg me to freeze you."**

**"Father," Khione protested, "you can't simply let them—"**

**"I can do what I like," he said, his voice hardening. "I am still master here, am I not?"**

"Argue with him!" Connor begged, knowing that wouldn't go well.

**The way Boreas glared at his daughter, it was obvious they had some ongoing argument.**

**Khione's eyes flashed with anger, but she clenched her teeth. "As you wish, Father."**

**"Now go, demigods," Boreas said, "before I change my mind. Zethes, escort them out safely."**

**They all bowed, and the god of the North Wind dissolved into mist. Back in the entry hall, Cal and Leo were waiting for them. Leo looked cold but unharmed. He'd**

**even gotten cleaned up, and his clothes looked newly washed, like he'd used the hotel's valet**

**service. Festus the dragon was back in normal form, snorting fire over his scales to keep himself**

**defrosted. As Khione led them down the stairs, Jason noticed that Leo's eyes followed her. Leo started**

**combing his hair back with his hands. Uh-oh, Jason thought. He made a mental note to warn Leo**

**about the snow goddess later. She was not someone to get a crush on.**

Several people laughed or at least smiled at Leo's action, though they agreed with Jason's thoughts.

**At the bottom step, Khione turned to Piper. "You have fooled my father, girl. But you have not**

**fooled me. We are not done. And you, Jason Grace, I will see you as a statue in the throne room**

**soon enough."**

**"Boreas is right," Jason said. "You're a spoiled kid. See you around, ice princess."**

There was more laughter at Jason comment. **Khione's eyes flared pure white. For once, she seemed at a loss for words. She stormed back up**

**the stairs—literally. Halfway up, she turned into a blizzard and disappeared.**

**"Be careful," Zethes warned. "She never forgets an insult."**

"And she probably not a enemy you'll want to have," Thalia muttered, though she was still glad that

Jason had made the comment.

**Cal grunted in agreement. "Bad sister."**

More chuckles came form Cal's remark.

**"She's the goddess of snow," Jason said. "What's she going to do, throw snowballs at us?" But as**

**he said it, Jason had a feeling Khione could do a whole lot worse.**

**Leo looked devastated. "What happened up there? You made her mad? Is she mad at me too?**

**Guys, that was my prom date!"**

"As if," Reyna said coughing.

"You know you're my Prom date"he said hugging her.

"Im gonna puke"Conner said the only single guy there or the one whose not looking for anyone.

**"We'll explain later," Piper promised, but when she glanced at Jason, he realized she expected**

**him to explain.**

**What had happened up there? Jason wasn't sure. Boreas had turned into Aquilon, his Roman**

**form, as if Jason's presence caused him to go schizophrenic.**

**The idea that Jason had been sent to Camp Half-Blood seemed to amuse the god, but**

**Boreas/Aquilon hadn't let them go out of kindness. Cruel excitement had danced in his eyes, as if**

**he'd just placed a bet on a dogfight.**

"Ah, a betting god, I might have to like Boreas yet," Travis chuckled.

**You will tear each other apart , he'd said with delight. Aeolus will never have to worry about demigods again.**

**Jason looked away from Piper, trying not to show how unnerved he was. "Yeah," he agreed,**

**"we'll explain later."**

"It always makes it harder to explain when you don't know what the hell is going on," Percy said

wisely.

"Which explains why you usually let Annabeth explain things," Nico commented as the others

snickered at the face that Percy was making.

**"Be careful, pretty girl," Zethes said. "The winds between here and Chicago are bad tempered.**

**Many other evil things are stirring. I am sorry you will not be staying. You would make a lovely**

**ice statue, in which I could check my reflection."**

**"Thanks," Piper said. "But I'd sooner play hockey with Cal."**

"It acutally sounds like fun to play hockey with Cal," Clarisse muttered.

**"Hockey?" Cal's eyes lit up.**

**"Joking," Piper said. "And the storm winds aren't our worst problem, are they?"**

**"Oh, no," Zethes agreed. "Something else. Something worse."**

**"Worse," Cal echoed.**

**"Can you tell me?" Piper gave them a smile. This time, the charm didn't work.**

"Too bad," Thalia sighed.

**The purple-winged Boreads shook their heads in unison. The hangar doors opened onto a**

**freezing starry night, and Festus the dragon stomped his feet, anxious to fly.**

**"Ask Aeolus what is worse," Zethes said darkly. "He knows. Good luck."**

**He almost sounded like he cared what happened to them, even though a few minutes ago he'd**

**wanted to make Piper into an ice sculpture.**

"He was a demigod once," Rachel said thoughtfully, "he might have more sympathy than he would like

to show."

**Cal patted Leo on the shoulder. "Don't get destroyed," he said, which was probably the longest**

**sentence he'd ever attempted. "Next time—hockey. Pizza." "Come on, guys." Jason stared out at the dark. He was anxious to get out of that cold penthouse,**

**but he had a feeling it was the most hospitable place they'd see for a while.**

**"Let's go to Chicago and try not to get destroyed."**

"Always a good plan," Percy said handing the book to Annabeth, "that was the end of the chapter."


End file.
